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I 



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GESTA REGUM BRITANNLE. 



I' ll I K T E I» B Y G . It t N i: 1 1, II U V . 
tl, r»e Gutraad«, Kordeaoi. 



/ / ^ 






(Catnlirian tehcfnlnniral tanriatian 



GESTA 

RKGUM BRITANNI/E 

* VKTMCM. niSTORY (IF THH BWTONK 

BY FRANCISQUE-MICHEL 



E gjJMjjj vn uynumpm 



PRINTED 

KOB THE CAMBRIAM ARCH-fiOLOOICAI. ASSOUIATIUX. 






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■f. 



INDEX. 



Preface V 

Gesta regum Britannie 1 

Various readings '. 179 

Appendix 197 

De primis iuhabitatoribus Angliae 199 

Brutus 215 



♦ • - ■ : o - 



PREFACE. 



The Poem which is here published for the flrst time is not 
altogether unknown. As far as we are aware, it was brought 
before the public by the Benedictine monks Doms Martene 
and Durand, who had seen in the abbey of Vicoigne, of the 
order of Pr6montr6, " a History of the Britons in Latin metre, 
compiled, as they say, incorrectly enough, by Alexander 
Nuqms, and inscribed to Cadiac, bishop of Vennes *, "at the 
end of which was a genealogy of the kings of France, finishing 
with the baptism of Philippe-Auguste. 

We are not aware that from that time down to the present 
day, the poem has been mentioned. In the * Biblioth£que 
Historique de la France, n there is nothing more than a 
repetition, in the same words, of what was said in the 
" Voyage litteraire «. " It was not before 1837 that, in the 
public library of Valenciennes, the aforesaid manuscript was 

1 Voyage HUeraire de deux retlgieux benedicUns, etc, vol. I, V part, p. 213. 

* Bibliotkeque kistorique de la Francc, t. III, p. 399, col. % n° 35364. — Tbe same ma y 
be said of thfi " Notices chronologiques sur les ecrivains de Bretagne " (Brest, 18 18, 8v o), 
tiie compiler of which, having given place to ( * Alexandre Nuques, " bas mcrely trans- 
cribed Father Leloog's article. See p. Ii4. 



TIH rBEFACE. I 

discovered byM.de Gaulle l . It belonged to a folio collection, | 

■ 

on vellum, of 278 leaves, written for the most part in the j 

XIII U century, and containing various works relating to 
English history. The genealogy of the kings of France is no 
longer to be found there. On the author*s name it affords 
us but the following vague information, written by a different 
hand : " Explicit Historia Britonum versificata, a magistro 
Alexandro Nequam compilata, ut credo, et scripta ad dominum 
Cadiocum, episcopum Venetensem f . " Now it ought to be 
Nequam instead of Nuques. But is really Alexander Neckam 
the author of that work? The compiler himself of the 
colophon doubts it, and nobody ascribes such a composition 
to the celebrated Neckham, author of so many other writings 
both in prose and in verse. The dates would not agree : 
Neckham died, at the latest, in 1227 •, and Cadioc was only 
promoted to the episcopal see of Vannes in 1236 4 . 

Another manuscript copy of the same poem is preserved 
in the Cottonian Library, under the press mark of Julius 
D.XI. That copy, which is of the XIIP h century, bears no 
authors name; we have already given a fragment of it in 
one of our former publications B . 

Beside these, there is a third copy of the same work, also 
comprised in a collection of the XIIP century, 4 t0 , on vellum, 



1 Bulletin du bibliopkile, mai 1837. — ticho du monde savant, jain 1839, etc. 
' Le Glay, Mimoire sur les bibliothequts publiques du dtparlement du Nord, p. 175. 
• IHstoire UUeraire de la France, vol. XVIII, p. 521-523. 
« Gallia christiano, vol.XlV, col. 936, H, 927. 

1 Rapports au Ministre de VlnetrucUon publique, etc, in tbe Collcction de Documents 
inidits sur Ihistoire de France, p. 252, 253. 



PBEFACE. IX 

along with a piece of poetry in elegiac leonine verses on 
the taking of Troy, and another in leonine hexameters * De 
Gontemptu mundi '. " This last piece is the only one 
mentioned by Montfaucon a . At the end of the poem on the 
Britons, which however occupies the greatest part of the 
volume, are written, by the same hand as the remainder 
of the transcript, these words : " Explicit decimus liber 
Gestorum regum Britannie, per manum Guillelmi dicti de 
Redonis, monachi. " 

Those words, " per manum, " seem to point out the ama- 
nuensis rather than the author ; but if this William, said to be 
of Rennes, is the same as the Dominican monk who composed 
an Apparatus on the Sum of Raymond of Penafort, it is 
difficult to believe that such a man, otherwise of high standing, 
could lower himself to the humble office of an amanuensis. 
Let us add that the bibliographers who spoke of William of 
Rennes, ascribe to him, beyond his Apparatus, nothingmore 
than writings on civil and canon law, now lost or unknown 3 . 
Nevertheless it would not be impossible that this jurisconsult, 
contemporaneous with Cadioc, might have cultivated what 
was at the time called poetry, as a diversion to more serious 
labours. Philip of Beaumanoir * and others did not despise 

1 Bibl. imp., fonds latin, n° 8491. Cf . Catalogut codieum manutcriplorum Bibtlotkecm 
Begim, toI. II, p. 464. 

* Bibliotkeca bibiiotkecarum, etc, vol. II, p. 751, c. 

* Qnetif and Echard , Script. ordin. Prmdic, toI. I, p. 430. — Fabricias, Bibliolh. 
lat. med. et inf. mtat., toI. III, p. 143; toI. V, p. 225,— HitU litt. de la France, 
toI. XVlIl.p. 403-406. 

* On the poetical works of Philip of Beaumanoir, see a paper by Mons. Henri Bordier, 
in tbe Bullelin de la Socitti det Anliqnairet de Picardie, ann. 1855 , p. 396. Cf. //»- 
toire lilUraire de la Franee, toI. XX, p. 394-404. 



X PBEFiCE. 

tliat kind of pastime; and we have a proof that the poem on 
the Britons had been presented to the bishop of Yannes to 
divert him after the serious reading of the Holy Scriptures : 

Qui, si post sacre Scripture seria, ludi 
Presentis cursum Tacuus spectaverit, et si 
Theumaque propositum consertaque verba poete 
Auctorisque stilum laudaverit, etc. 

If, as it is more likely, a William of Rennes, difTerent from 
the jurisconsult, was merely the transcriber of the metrical 
History of the Britons, we must, till we learn from another 
copy more about the author"s name, submit to remain in 
ignorance about it; for it is scarcely necessary to correct the 
blunder of the Catalogue of the manuscripts in the Imperial 
Library ^"auctore, ut videtur, Cadioto antistite, "since it is 
obvious that, in the last verse of the poem, the name of 
Cadiocus, ill read, is not the name of the versifier, but that 
of the bishop : 

Antistes vestro vivat Cadiocus in ore. 

This other verse, which belongs to the invocation, 

Hiis presul Yenetensis opera conatibus addat, 

proves clearly that the bishop and the author are not the 
same man. 

The poem contains 4923 lines ; it is divided into ten books, 
each preceded by an argument of ten lines, which gives, 
with a dryness nearly technical, the facts contained in the 

* Vol. H, p. 464. 



PBEFACE. XI 

book. Those ten arguments do not need to be analysed here, 
as the poet has closely followed the History of the Britons by 
Geffrey of Monmouth; the first of them is followed by the 
invocation to the Muse and the exposition of the subject : 

Caliope, referas, ut te referente renarrem 
Unde genus Britonum, que nominis hujus origo, 
Unde suos habuit generosa Britannia reges, 
Quis fuit Arturus, que gesta, quis exitus ejus, 
Qualiter amisit infelix natio regnum. 

Eight lines farther on, the poet enters into his subject; 
but he expresses in a few words what is fully developed 
by Geffrey of Monmouth. Thus while he says : 

Brutus ab Enea quartus, casu patricida, 
Exulat, 

Geffrey says : w At length after the expiration of fifteen years, 
the youth accompanied his father a-hunting, and killed him 
unintentionally by an arrow; for, as the servants were 
driving up the deer towards them, Brutus, in levelling a shot 
at them, smote his father under the breast. Upon his death 
he was expelled from Italy, his kinsmen being enraged at 
him for so heinous a crime. " 

M. de Gaulle's paper, where the ten arguments are given, 
have already shown also of what interest these versified 
annals may be, which deserve to be compared with the old 
British chronicles. Perhaps this gentleman ought not to have 
identified Sparta with that town of Sparatinum, where Brulus 
is besieged by Pandrasus, king of the Greeks. A marginal 
note of the Parisian manuscript states, without however 



xii riEFAce. 

quoting any authority, that it is one of Ihe three towns 
belonging to Assaracus, a Greek prince. Brutus's ally; while 
Geflrey of Monmouth, closely followed by our versifier, 
contents himself with saying that Assaracns was the owner 
of three castles which his father had given him at his death, 
on acconnt of his being only the son of a concubine. The 
editor of Wace*s " Roman de Brut " was somewhat right to 
say that it is not easy to determine either the name or the 
seat of that town '. 

Nor do we either accept without restriction M. de Gaulle's 
opinion as to the literary merit of the poem. " It has, " says 
he, " all the defects of the Latin productions of the XIH U cen- 
lury, and very few of the qualities which are to be found in 
some of them. " We shall see, however, that this metrical 
history is not without some passages, in which prevails the 
expression of a deep and natural feeling. 

Although the work is less a translation than a free hnitation 
in Latin verse of Geffrey of Monmouth"s chronicle, commen- 
ci ng with Brutus, <£neas's great grand son, and ending at the 
death of Cadwallader, the last king of the Britons (A. D. 689), 
the whole tissue and extent of the composition, the succession 
and the connexion of the facts, the choice and the unfolding 
of the chief particulars, are generally the same on both 
sides. Sometimes the versifier is more concise than the prose 
chronicle; sometimes, on the contrary, he gives to certain 
circumstances a shape less dry and, apparently, more 

1 U Rodi de Lincy, le Rowutn de Brut, ?ol. 1, p. 16. 



PREFACF.. XIII 

poetical . Thus he takes almost e very opportunity to substitute 
for complaints, for advice, for exhortations which in the prose 
are expressed in a few words, speeches in the direct style. 
Such is, at the beginning, the speech in twenty three lines, 
where the Trojans, slaves under Pandrasus, desire Brutus 
to be their leader to deliver them. Geffrey had only said that 
the hero's fame spreading over all the country, the Trojans 
from all parts began to flock to him, desiring under his 
command to be freed from the thraldom of the Greeks; our 
versifler expresses the same in the following lines : 

Plebs igitnr Trojana virum de semine cretum 
Dardanio, flexis genibus, lacrimisque profusis, 
Passibus aggrediens timidis, sic Horsa profatur : 
" Dedecet ingenuos sub iniquo principe vitam 
Ducere degenerem. Pudet, ha ! pudet esse tot annis 
Sub domino dominos. Servi sumus et generosi. 
Dum nos servimus, partim servire videris; 
Cum sis pars nostri, nostri miserere tuique ; 
Nam potes *, etc. 

1 Io tbe « Histolre mteraire de Ia France, " vol. XXII, p. 74, M. Lajard qootes also 
as an instaoee of a similar ampliflcaiion tbe letter written by Brotos to Pandrasos, 
before declaring war to nim, to indace bim to let tbe Trojans depart or to free them : 

Pandraae rex Dananm, Bratue rex Dardanioram, 
Bec ego mitto tibi premiau verba salute. 
Turpe reor regem regam de lemine natoa 
Supposoiae jogo, ete. 

Bot referring to Geffrey's History, book I, ch. IV, we aseertaln tbat Brntos's letter 
to Pandrasus presents no otber difference tban its being in prose in tbe latter work. It 
rans tbos : " Bratns, general of tbe remalnder of tbe Trojans, to Pandrasns, Ung of the 
Greeks, sends greeting. As it was benealb tbe dignity of a nation descended from the 
illostrioos race of Dardanns, to be treated in yonr kingdom otherwlse than the distinction 
of tbeir birth reqoired, they bave betaken themselves to the coverts of tbe woods; for 
they preferred liviog afler the manoer of wild beasts, npon flesh and herbs, wlth the 
eojoyment of liberty, to continoing any longer ln the greatest luxury, onder tbeyoke of 
slavery. If this gives Yoor Majesty any offence, lmpnte it not to them, bot pardon it, 



XI? PREFACE. 

Elsewhere, the gravity of the events and their probable 
consequences inspire the poet with reflexions exhibiting a 
lively and energetic feeling. Thus, near tlie end of the 
fourth book, when Conan accepts from Maximian the royalt y of 
Armorica l , the author only foresees, in that elevation, foun- 
ded on the injustice and the violence of the conquest, roisfor- 
tunes for Conan, for his famlly and all the country ; 

regnum minime felix ! o sanguine fuso 
Optentum regale decus! 

The author may have written those lines a short time 
after Peter Mauclerc humiliated himself before saint Louis, 
in 1234. Peter was, in truth, the first who bore the title of 
duke of Britanny; but the people possibly might not be 
accustomed to that new denomination, and the poet seeing 
Britanny lowered and almost submitted, could not to think of 
giving to it any other title than that of county, which it bore 
during many centuries. 

The apostrophe to Vortigern, when he marries Hengisfs 

since it Is tbe common sentiment of every captive to be desirons of regaining bis former 
dfgnitv. Let ptty tberefore move yon to bestow on them freely their lost liberty, and 
permit tbem to Inhabit tbe thickets of tbe woods, to which they bave retired to avoid 
slavery; bnt if you deny them tbis favour, tben by onr permisslon and assistance, let 
tbem depart into some foreign conntry. " 

1 Rex igUar regnam, populo pollere BriUnno 

Gaodens, Annoricam Con«no tradit, eamqae 
PromoTet in regem, nomenqne nortt regionto, 
Respectnqae Minor eet dicU BriUnnia Magne. 

Nolhing like this is to be foond in CefTrcy's British History, where chapter XIII of 
book V ends thns with a picture of the desolation of Britanny on that occasion : " The 
fame of Maiimian's exploits, " says be, tf spreading over the rest of tlic provinccs of 
Ganl, all their dokes and princes were under a dreadful consternation,and had no other 
hnpes leff, bot in tbeir prayers to their gods. They fled everywhcre from thc conntrr 
villages into tbe cities and towns, and otber places of strengtb and safely, " etc. 



PBEFACE. XV 

daughter, the fair Rowena, is no less lively, and the beauty 
of it is that it does not extend beyond measure : 

Quid facis, o demens? quid id est, stultissime regum? 
Cur caperis fecie, etc. 

. Those reflexions turned to sentiment and expressed, if not 
with all desirable good taste, at least with a certain warmth, 
are not even indicated in Geffrey of Monmouth"s text l . 
Lastly, the poet ends by an invective against the English 

, oppressors of the Bfitons, and by a protestation of love and 
devotion to the vanquished race. He acknowledges the 

i 

weakness of his work; but he did not intend to write for 
scholars. He addresses it neither to the Saxons, nor to the 
Romans, nor even to the French, whom Britain often made 
uneasy; he wishes only his verses may be in tlie mouth of 
the children of his countrymen, in order that they may 
remember their old father land, and preserve the hope to 
recover some day or other the dominion which they had 
lost : 

Jam mea pene ratis fluctu maris obmta, portum 
Optatum tangit, et quam nec seva Caribdis 
Nec catuli Scille, nec terruit equoris unda, 

1 See book VI, ch. XII. It eods thns : « Hengist, being a prudent man, discovered 
the king's levily, and eonsulled with his brother Horsa and the other mcn present on 
whatwas to be done relativeto the king's request. They unanimously advised h:m 
to give Vortigern his danghter, and out of consideration for ber, to demand the provinrc 
of Kent. Accordingly the daughter was, without delay, deiivered to Vortigern, and 
the province of Kent to Hengist, unknown to Gorongan, who had the govrrnmcnt of it. 
The king tbe same night married the pagan lady, and became cxtremely delighled witti 
her, by wbich be quickly brought upon himseif the halrcd of the nobility and of his 
own sons; for he had already three sons, whose names were Vortigern, Kaligern and 
Pascenlius. " 



XTI rBEFACE. 

Terrent terrarum fantasmata, terret edacii 
Livoris morsus, tormento sevior omni. 
Quis locus invidie, quid agit detractio mordax? 
Hic ubi culpat opus, propriumque fecerat auctor, 
Invide cur cernis obliquo lumine labro? 
Indignante legis mea carmina, cur ea dente 
Scabro corrodis? Non sunt f me judice, digna 
Laude, nec in medio recitanda diserti. 
Nil ego provectis, nil doctis scribo magistris, 
Sed rudibus rude carmen ego, non verba polita 
Non tragicis satis apta modis, non digna cathedra, 
Non medio psallenda foro ; cano gutture rauco. 
Non plausus populi, non famam, non sapientum 
Judicium quero ; satis est mihi si puerorum 
Gratus in ore legar. Procul hinc, procul esse periti; 
Saxones hinc abeant, lateant mea scripta Quirites ; 
Nec pateant Gallis, quos nostra Britannia viclrix 
Sepe molestavit. 

Excepting that feature, " quos nostra Britannia victrix, " 
we own that we might recognize, in the energelic complaints 
of that final strain, one of those Cambrians formerly driven 
back into their mountains by the Anglo-Saxons, and kept in 
the same oppression by the new conquerors, rather than an 
inhabitant of the little Britanny, a province jealous, it is true, 
of its independence with regard to the kings of France, but 
which, in the middle of the XIII th century, could not well 
dream of recovering England from the Saxons and the 
Normans, their vanquishers. 

We have shown how the w Gesta regum Britannia* " 
was framed; it remains to speak of the st\ie of the work. 
In spite of the vague nature or impropriety of expression. 
the weakness of the poetical turns, the irregularity of 



FREFACfi. IVII 

some constructions, and the want of taste, which in the 
ampliQcations belonging to the versifier, prevents him from 
stopping at the proper point, one must own that this poem 
exhibits more variety of style and is more entertaining to 
peruse than Wace's Brut, leaving apart however the interest 
inseparable from the primitive monuments of our language. 
In comparing both, any body may very easily convince 
himself that the old trouvgre has almost everywhere more 
closely followed Geffrey of Monmoutlrs chronicle than the 
Latin poet did. It seems to us most likely that both of them 
drew their narratives from the same source, that is to say 
from the Latin chronicle of the Welsh Benedictine monk, ra- 
ther than from the Brut y Brenhinoedd of Walter Calen. One 
might think that the discrepancies between their compositions 
and that of Geffrey are owing to a more immediate imitation 
of some of those ancient Armorican poems, which had been 
collected by the Archdeacon of Oxford; but that can only be 
conjectural, since those poems are wanting. In fact, although 
the existence, or at least the remembrance, of the popular 
songs which preserved the legend of king Arthur and of his 
fabulous predecessors, seem attested by the records of the 
middle ages, we should not dare, in spite of the researches 
of many industrious scholars, to boast of possessing the 
original texts of those early poems, or even some fragment 
of reai authenticity. 

As we have said before, the text of the " Gesta regum Bri- 
tanniae " is far from being correct, and too often both the 
quantity and the metre are defective; we have not however 



IVIII PREFACE. 

attempted to afford a remedy to it. We have followed the 
Parisian manuscript and given in our appendix the various 
readings of the two others as far as we could from a careful 
collation ; the only alteration introduced into our text is the 
introduction of punctuation and the substitution of v and j, 
when required. Had we had access to the manuscript of 
Valenciennes, we should have collated the whole of the 
poem; but we have only seen the fragment for which we are 
indebted to M. de Gaulle; and on finding how close it is to 
the Parisian manuscript, nobody will regret not having any 
more of the various readings. 

We hope the small poems printed in the appendix on the 
same subject will be acceptable as a proper sequel to the 
w Gesta regum Britanni» ". We have transcribed them from 
two manuscripts in the British Museum, and we have care- 
fully compared the proofs with the originals ; but we must 
confess thatwe tookgreat liberties with the Latin text, which 
is indeed very incorreci. As to the Norman poem, we are 
at a loss to pronounce whether it is, or is not, a translation of 
a Latin tract which frequently occurs in the English Hbraries, 
namely in three Cottonian manuscripts ft . With another 
poem on Brutus preserved in the Royal Library of Munich '; 

1 De Orlgine giganlm in insula Albion olim haoltontium, et de nomine insula. (Cott. 
Ms., Vespasianas, E.X, folio 890 verso; Titus, A.XIX, folio 103; Cleopatra, D.VIII, 
folio 3 verso.) 

1 Codices manuscripti BiHiotkecat regiat Monacensis, t. VII. Monaehii, A. 

M. CCC. LVUL, ln8\ p. 2, Gall. cod. 29. 

IncipU : 81 cum l'om truere en meppemnnde, 
Breuine eet one Ule perfande. 

Bxplicit : Ki eelanc loi et per droitnre 
Dee jugemens preeieeent care. 



PREFACfi. M 

with this volume, Wace, Layamon, and Peter of Langtoft; 
we have all the metrical translations of Geffrey of Mon- 
mouth's celebrated chronicle which have come down to our 
days, but which were not the only ones ; for we are informed 
that it was translated again as late as 1400 by an English- 
man, whose work seems now to be lost *. 



1 " Nee tamen Claratonem Anglnm,has nugas ▼ ersn Gallico reddere nostrisqne homi- 
nibusobtrudere, cnm Lutetix bonas addisceret literas snb annnm M.CCCC." {Guillelmi 
Neuhrlgeusis Angli.... ie Bebus Anglieis sni temporlt, Ubri quinque, ete. Parisiis, 
M.DC.X., in-8°, not. in Prooeminm , p. 685. ) 

Among the mannscripts in the royal Library of Stockholm, there ls onc folio on paper, 
containing, nnder the tilte of Breta Sdgur, i. e. British Narrations, a translation of 
Gcffrcy of MonmoutlTs History, which was lnterrupted after the 33" chapter; but our 
imprcssion is that it is in prose. See P. E. Muiler's Saga- Bibliothek , quoted by 
M. Geffroy. {Archives des missions seientifiques et Utteraires, etc, Tul. IV, p.220. 
Parb, M DCCC LYI, 8vo.) 



'\ 



;•....* 



* « 






- • . _ . 



GESTA 



REGUM BRITANNI.E. 



Incipit primus liber gestorum regum Britatmie. 

Primus ab Ytaiia, post patris fata, relegat 
Bratum. Nabit ei regalis virgo. Dianam 
Consalit. Invadit Mauros. Corineum sibi jungit. 
Post maris et terre diversa pericula, vincit 
Pictavos. Turonim sibi construit. Albyon intrat. 
Gaudet; sacrificat; discurrit per loca; nomen 
Inmutat patrie; sociis assignat habendas 
Pro meritis sortes. Urbes, castella, deorum 
Templa facit; statuit leges, et semina spargi 
Precipit in terra; tutos jubet esse colonos. 40 

Caliope, referas, ut te referente renarrem 
Unde genus Britonum, que nominis bujus origo, 
Unde suos habuit generosa Britannia reges, 
Quis fuit Arturus, que gesta, quis exitus ejus, 



:•*.-•- ••;•:£ :2: [ .;/■ .„• gesta begcm bbitannia. 

Qualiter amisit infelix natio regnam. 
Hiis presul Venetensis opem conatibus addat, 
Qui, si post sacre Scripture seria, ludi 
Presentis cursum vacuus spectaverit, et si 
Theumaque propositum consertaque verba poete 
Auctorisque stilum laudaverit, omne timores 20 

Excussum cedet nostro de pectore frigus ; 
At si ridiculum vel inutile viderit, igni 
Supponat totum, vel lima tollat abusum. 

Brutus ab Enea quartus, cas patricida, 
Exulat. Italiam fugiens, Lacedemona querit. 
Pandrasus est ibi rex, sub quo captiva tenetur 
Progenies Heleni, quem cum multis Frigiorum, 
Post cineres Troje, post diruta menia, secum 
Adduxit Pyrrus ; mortem parentis in illos 
Ulciscens, captos glebe servire coegit. 30 

Interea numerus servorum crescit in ipsa 
Anxietate jugi, jugique labore; sed ecce 
Brutus adest, sapiens, formosus, fortis et audax, 
Quem reges, quem turba ducum, quem femina, quem vir, 
Quem dives, quem pauper amant; placet omnibus. Ejus 
Audita fama, gaudet captiva caterva. 
Plebs igitur Trojana virum de semine cretum 
Dardanio, flexis genibus, lacrimisque profusis, 
Passibus aggrediens timidis, sic Horsa profatur : 
" Dedecet ingenuos sub iniquo principe vitam 40 

Ducere degenerem. Pudet, ha! pudet esse tot annis 
Sub domino dominos. Servi sumus et generosi. 
Dum nos servimus, partim servire videris ; 



«B^=BH55"W 



LIBRB PRtMUS. 3 

Cum sis pars nostri, nostri miserere tuique; 

Nam potes et debes nostros dissolvere nexus. 

Grecia nunc victrix readet tibi victa tributum 

Auxilio nostro. Fortes sumus, et legione 

Majores numero, preter sexum muliebrem 

Et pueros. Nostre casus ulciscere Troje ; 

Esto dux noster. Vincemus, te duce, regem 50 

Grecorum ; Grecos credas tibi terga daturos. 

Nec status hic faciet servilis condicionis 

Nos pavidos. Memores antique nobilitatis, 

Nos labor assiduus duros, armisque ferendis 

Aptos ; delicie Danaos et pax diuturna 

Efficiunt molles : hec pugna videbitur impar. 

Cedentes Danaos cademus; vulnera Grecis 

In tergo dabimus ; vultus ostendere nunquam 

Audebunt nobis, fugientque ; fugabimus et nos. 

" Adde quod Assaracus, Trojana matre creatus, 60 

Patre tamen Greco, tria munitissima castra, 
Que sibi legavit moriens genitor, tenet. Illi 
Hec auferre parat ejus frater, quia non est 
Legitime natus. Rex Pandrasus auxiliatur 
Assaraci fratri; tibi vult hec opida sponte 
Tradere seque simul. Hec et nos suscipe. Greci 
Qui nunc sunt domini, fient, te vindice, servi." 

Brutus ut attendit gemitus fletusque suorum, 
Frendet, et assumit vires, et concipit in sc 
Ingentes animos. Victos servire Pelasgos 70 

Jam sibi mente videt ; curru victore superbus 
Jam vehitur; sibi se sublimior esse videtur. 

Annuit ergo suis; dux erigitur; tria munit 



4 GBSTA lEGCM BftITAHHl£. 

Castra relicta sibi. Peiii Assaracus nemorosa, 
Cum molta turba sexus utriusque suorum. 
Dux igitur regi Grecorum talia scribit : 

Epistola. 

" Pandrase rex Danaum, Brutus rex Dardaniorum, 
Hec ego mitto tibi premissa verba salute. 
Turpe reor regem regum de semine natos 
Supposuisse jugo : quare Trojana juventus, so 

Quam male tractasti, penitus tua jura resinans, 
Saltus et nemorum tenet abdita, more ferarum. 
Herbis et crudis potius vult carnibus uti, 
Quam male divitiis honerata, subcsse tiranno. 
Elige quod malis, quod sit magis utile : vel tu 
Permittas Frigios nemus et saltus habitantes 
Libertate frui, vel eos patiaris abire." 

Pandrasus est ob verba ducis turbatus; et ultra 
Quam regem deceat, nimie non imperat ire. 
Convocat ergo suos proceres, secumque citato 90 

Cursu ducit eos, ut Troas precipitato 
Turbine correptos, ad vincla relicta reducat. 

Perpendens acies Sparatinum preterituras, 
Sub precedentis tetra caligine noctis, 
Ignaris Grecis, Brutus se claudit in illo 
Cum ter mille viris ad bella gerenda paratis. 

Postera lux aderat ; dux regem pretereuntem 
Cernit, et invadit incautum cautus, inermem 
Armatus. Danay fugiunt, Troesque sequuntur 
Nunc huc, nunc illuc ; et quo suus impetus illos 100 



LIBEH PBIMUS. 5 

Ducit, diffagiunt; perimuntur, non perimentes. 

Ceduntur gladiis, moriuntur more bidentum. 

Ad ripam rapidi fugiunt Achelonis; in illo, 

Ne pereant gladiis, pereunt rapientibus undis. 

Libertate frui sic gaudent agmina Bruti. 

Antigonus, frater regis, fugientibus inquid : 

" Quis furor, o socii, vitam finire sub undis ? 

Stemus et obstemus; lapides jactemus in hostes, 

Telaque mittamus, nec sic moriamur inulti." 

Sic faciunt, nec proficiunt; ceduntur inermes. 110 

Antigonus capitur, et concors par Anacletus. 

Vix rex, cum paucis, hostiles effugit enses ; 
Et Brutus Sparatini menia munit, 
Et nemorosa petit ubi gens Trojana moratur. 
Antigonum sociumque suum post terga ligatis 
Adducit manibus, et eos includit in antris. 

Rex vero, ob propriamque fugam stragemque suorum 
Et captum fratrem, nimio merore movetur. 
Illa nocte tamen dispersas colligit alas, 
Ut veniente die castrum, spe ductus inani, 420 

Obsideat, capiatque ducem, fratremque ligatum 
Liberet, et referat victo victore trophea. 
Astra fugante die, festinant undique Greci 
Cingere castellum. Lituis clangentibus, Echo 
Ex equo reboat; colles mugire videntur; 
Incutitur terror reprobis; audacia crescit 
Fortibus; evulsis telis obnubitur aer. 
Inmensam fabricant molem testudinis ; iilam 
Implent militibus, ut tali tegmine tuti 
Dilapident murum. Sed Troes sulphur et ignes 130 



6 GBSTl lECCM BIITAHKIJE. 

Deiciunt in eam. Molem rapit igois et ipsos 
Dilapidatores, cassumque Grecique laborem 
Et comitum mortem merent; sed meror eorum 
Letitiam generat clausis; at panis egestas 
Desperare facit illos. Legatus eorum 
Mittitur ad Brutum, qui nuuciat ut mora nulla 
Illum detineat quin ipsis auxilietur. 

Hiis dux auditis, quia tot tantasque phalanges 
Non babet ut contra regem committere martem 
Campestrem valeat, hostes invadere nocte 140 

Proponit caute ; sed ad hoc opus est alicujus 
Auxilio Greci. Vocat ergo dux Anacletum, 
Cum quo fedus init pacis, fideique cathena 
Se simul astringunt post oscula mutua. Bruti 
Consilio fretus, ad regis castra latenter 
Nocte fere media properat, vigilesque salutat. 
Quis sit et unde rogant. " Ego sum carissimus, inquit, 
Antigoni socius, venio de carcere Bruti. 
Antigonum socium meo mecum de carcere duxi ; 
Sed quia cum pedibus gravis est huc usque venire, 150 

Non potuit; tectum nemorosa in valle reliqui." 
Agnoscunt vigiles Anacletum; creditur illi. 
Ad vallem veniunt. Dux est absconditus illic, 
Et Trojana cohors. Presens nox non sinit ultra 
Ut vigilent illi, properata cede perempti. 
Post mortem vigilum dux tendit ad obsidionem, 
Compescuntque pedum strepitus et murmura vocum. 
Ille suos cuneos sapienter dividit in tres 
Turmas; cuique suam partem dans aggrediendam, 
Edicens inhibet ne degrassentur in hostes ieo 



LIBEE PAIMUS. 7 

Donec cum fuerit regis tentoria nactus, 

Det sonitum lituo. Troes se leviter infra 

Castra gerunt; Brutus tentoria regis adeptus 

Obtatum sociis signum facit; excitat illos 

Ensis, quos cogit sompno dormire perhenni. 

Nemo suo parcit gladio; fas omne nephasque 

Cuncta licent ensi; manus huic, pes ceditur illi. 

Sanguinis unda ruit; quos stravit vulneris ictus, 

Hos cruor extinguit, et sic leto geminato 

Exalant animas. Aiios gemitus morientum 170 

Excitat a sompno; mentes stupor eripit illis; 

Dum fugiunt alios, alios labuntur in hostes. 

Nunquam deest hostis, nusquam perimensque eadensque. 

Frnsta sepe secant, in frusta cadavera; mortem 

Ictibus invitant repetitis, que venit ultro. 

Inclusi quos rex obsederat ocius aura, 

Se simul excludunt; stragem, que magna videtur, 

Hajorem faciunt; minus hic reputatur iniquus, 

Interfectorum qui plures reddit acervos. 

Hinc si quis gladios evaserat, obruit ampnis. ieo 

At Brutus regem servat, quem vivere mavult 

Quam perimi gladio ; processu temporis illum, 

Qui nunc est hostis, fieri sibi credit amicum. 

Lucifero retegente diem, nocturna ruina 
Hagna patet. Brutus interne gaudia raentis 
Vix recipit. Gazas Grecorum precipit eque 
Distribui sociis; sua porcio cuique videtur 
Justa. Jubet tumulis spoliata cadavera tradi. 
Hiis actis, multo castellum milite mimit, 
Et repetit nemorum, cum capto rege, latebras. 190 



i 



8 GESTA RBCUM B1ITAHHI£. 

Majores natu dux convocat, et quid agendum 
Sit de rege rogat. Pars est que judicat illum 
Esse reiun mortis ; dicit pars altera : " Partem 
Regni rex aliquam nobis assignet habendam." 
Tertia pars censet magis utile posse reverti 
In patriam ; causas pars invenit omnis honestas. 
Diversis diversa placent, cum nobilis astat 
Membricius, sociisque suis dubitantibus inquit : 
" Quis vestrum, nisi mentis inops, habitaret in uno 
Regno cum Grecis? Nullo morientur in evo 200 

Hesterne noctis preconia tristia Grecis, 
Dulcia Trojanis ; ex hoc contentio surget 
Inter nos et eos, nec eis obsistere multis 
Sufficimus pauci. Quociens miseranda suorum 
Pata patrum recolent, tociens sevire parabunt 
In sibi suspectam sobolem ; nec finis eorum 
Rancori dabitur, donec plenaria fiat 
Ulcio de nostris, et cedes cede luatur. 

" Sanius est igitur quod major filia regis 
Innogenta duci conjunx a rege petatur. 210 

Conferet argentum nobis, et conferet aurum 
Innumerasque rates et cetera congrua classi; 
Inde manu forti terram queremus habendam." 
Omnibus ista placet sententia. Pandrasus illam 
Approbat. Innogenta duci conceditur uxor; 
Naves ter centum vinginti quatuor, auro, 
Argento, vino, farris, speciebus, honuste 
Presentantur eis, et cetera commoda nautis. 
Omnibus hiis sumptis, rex est a carcere liber 
Ascendont naves et dant sua lintea ventis. 220 



LIBEE PBIMUS. 9 

At nova nupta sui ducis inter brachia, summa 

Stans in pupe, suam patriam ceterosque parentes 

Destituens, spectat terras, et Pandrasus equor. 

" Me miseram! quid id est? Pater, o pater! auferor, inquit; 

Efferor, ut dicam veracius ; est mihi latum, 

Pro tumulo, pelagus; syrtes mihi fata minantur; 

Predulci me voce vocant Syrenes edendam. 

Scilla suis canibus promittit ferre frequenter 

Exequias vive, si recte vita vocari 

Talis vita potest, que pejor morte videtur. 230 

Exequias vobis facio, sum mortua vobis, 

Vosque mihi lugens nubo, dotata maritor 

Exilio vitaeve fsicj brevi. Cur matris in alvo 

Non perii? Pereo monstris servata marinis." 

Sic fatur; sed vocis iter singultus et orte 

Impediunt lacrime; mens effugit et color oris, 

Vires destituunt corpus ; conlabitur amens 

Conjugis in gremio. Nec verba minantia dicit, 

Nec demulcet eam Brutus, nec basia ncctit, 

Donec post lacrimas et sompnum noverit egram 240 

Tractandam melius et verbis dulcibus aptam. 

Interea classis, vento deducta secundo, 
Post maris ingressum transacta luce secunda, 
Applicat ad terram quam circuit undique pontus. 
Est nomen terre Loegencia; gentibus olim, "~" 

Nunc habitata feris. Armatos destinat illuc 
Brutus, ut explorent si gens habitaret in illa. 
Nulla vident hominum vestigia ; sola ferarum 
Signa patent. Passim discurrunt; denique muros 
Inspiciunt urbis quam delevere pyrate; 250 






10 GBSTA REGCM BAITANIUJE. 

Conspiciunt in ea delubra vetusta Diane. 

Credere si fas est, ibi dat responsa petenti. 

Hiis visis, discedunt inde, ferasque ferentes 

Diversi generis, redeunt ad litus honusti. 

Visa duci referunt; dux cum senioribus urbem 

Et delubra petit. Gerio comitatur euntes, 

Doctus in augurio. Vestitus siudone, Brutus 

More suo niveis cingit sua timpora vittis ; 

Edis in ingressu tres aras construit : unam 

Mercurio, mediamque Jovi, dextramque Diane. 260 

Sacrificat bovis exta Jovi, cerveque Diane, 

Mercurioque canis : tribus hiis tria numina placat, 

Et nova vota facit, et verba precantia dicit; 

Ante dee statuam slans, tollit ad ethera vultum, 

Et plenum vino mixto cum sanguine cerve 

In dextra cratera tenens, hec verba profatur : 

" Diva triplex, cui sunt Proserpina, Luna, Diana 
Nomina, claustra Stigis penetras, preclara rcfulges 
In celo, jaculo nemorum gradiaris in apros; 
Presens, preteritum tu conspicis atque futurum; 270 

Dic, Dea, que michi sit tellus habitanda meisque. 
Ulic templa tibi statuam, te semper habebo 
Pre cunctis gratam, pre cunctis te vcnerabor." 
Hiis nonies dictis Trivie ter circuit aram, 
Quodque tenet dextra vinum diffundit in ignes. 
Jamque super pellem cerve jacet. Eripit illum 
Dulcis sompnus, ct est tempus quasi tercia noctis 
Hora ; venire deam visum est ac talia fari : 

" Brut e, sub occasu solis, trans Gallica regna 
Insula vasta jacet, habitata gigantibus olim, sso 



LIBEE PftlHUS. 11 

Nunc deserta quidem, quas ducis gentibus apta. 

Huic terre tua jura dabis, te rege regetur. 

Regnabit post te tua proles; exiet inde 

Illustris toto rex qui regnabit in orbe." 

Excitat a sompno quam vidit visio Brutum ; 

Miratur visis; dubitansque, retractat apud se 

An verus sompnus fuerat, vel visio vera. 

Cuncta suis narrat sociis ex ordine; gaudent 

Auditis socii, surgunt repetuntque carinas ; 

Carbasa dant ventis. Decies tribus alta diebus 290 

Equora classis arat. Demum patet Affrica nautis ; 

Inde salinarum petitur lacus ; inde secatur 

Inter Rusicadam Zareamque Zareeque fretum ; sed ibidem 

Insurgunt in eos nimia feritate pirate, 

Quos tamen Hectorei superant. Ditantur eorum 

Divitiis ; abeunt, malveque fluenta relinquunt. 

Ad Mauros veniunt; illic potusque cibique 

Deffectus cogit illos invadere Mauros. 

Devastant totam patriam. Discedit houusta 

Classis; ad Herculeas tendit festiva Columpnas. 300 

Vix ea Syrenes evadens, intrat in equor 

Tirrenum ; Troes illic prope littora plures 

Inveniunt Troas habitantes ; duxerat illuc 

Antenor secum, fugiens incendia Troje, 

Innumeros de gente sua, qui tempus ad istud 

Creverunt numero. Corineus dux presidet illis, 

Cui sensu, forma, vel viribus equiperari 

Nemo potest. Si quem manibus tenet ille gygantem, 

Ac si cum parvo contendat, suffocat illum. 

Hunc habuit Brutus semper, dum vixit, in omni 310 



12 GESTA 1EGCM BBITAH1U£. 

Conflictu socium. Patrie commercia lingue 

Hos et eos audita juvant, et geutis origo. 

Sese concives sescque fateutur amicos. 

Littoribus domibusque suis ortisque relictis, 

Dux cum geute sua Brutum comitatur euutem. 

Inde per inmensum mare currens Troica classis 

Intrat in os Ligeris, per quod descendit in equor. 

Noctibus hic septem remancnt totidemque diebus. 

A dextris jacet hiis Aquitania. Rex regit illam 

Gofforius Pictus, a quo Pictavia dicta est. 320 

Adventus ergo causas alienigenarum 

Rex jubet inquiri, pacem bellumve requirant. 

Regis legatis Corineus dux obviat, apros 

Insectans aliasque feras in montibus altis. 

Missorum primus, Hymbertus nomine, clamat : 

" stolidi miserique viri, mortique propinqui, 

Que vos in saltus regis demeutia duxit? 

Numquid non constat vobis in saltibus istis 

Venari vetitum, sine mandato speciali 

Regis ? " Ad hoc placidc dux excipiens ait illi : 330 

" Lex veterum commune facit genus esse ferarum ; 

Sic hic nulla tuo facta est injuria regi." 

Hymbertus replicat utens pro lege sagitta, 

Que penetrasset eum nisi se flexisset ab ictu. 

Dux triplicans concludit ei non lege, sed arcu 

Quem tenet in dextra. Frangit caput ejus, eumque 

Destinat ad Stigios. Hymberti fata videntes, 

Diffugiunt comites, et narrant omnia regi. 

Rex stnpet audita famuii nece; convocat ergo 

Miliciam regni. Ligeris petit hostia, mortem 340 



LIBEB PftlMTJS. 13 

Hymberti copiens ulcisci cede nocentum. 

Brutus ut adventum regis prope novit adesse, 
In bene munitis pueros simul et mulieres 
Navibus includit, et sccum ducit in hostes 
Electos de gente sua. Certamine juncto, 
Inter Pictavos et Troas regnat Erinis. 
Aggreditur Brutus Pictum, Pictusque resistit. 
Ceditur et cedit pars utraque; cedere parti 
Altera pars nescit, donec torrentis ad instar, 
Qui de monte cadit horrendo turbine, mentis 350 

Irate ductus, sua ducens agmina secum, 
In dextro cornu Corineus certaminis intrat ; 
Ut lupus inter oves rapit has et dissipat illas ; 
Ut leo qui sedare volens jejunia, visum 
Fertur in armentum, sic dux se mittit in hostes. 
Hostibus in mediis frendens, quemcunque bipenni 
Quam tenet assequitur, divisum in Tartara trudit. 
Miratur Brutus, socii mirantur et hostes, 
Unum posse virum tot milia tradere morti. 
Dant hostes sua terga fuge ; fugat hic fugientes. 360 

" Proh pudor, ignavi! quo vos timor eripit? inquit; 
Quo fuga vos retrahit? Stantes contendite mecum. 
Vos tamen excuso, vestrumque minoro pudorem ; 
Nam mea vos terret virtus, que sepe gygantes 
Tirrenos domuit, quos ternos atque quaternos 
Ad Stiga direxit." Comes hec ad verba Suhardus, 
Stans cum militibus ter centum milibus, ipsum 
Impetit ense ducem. Comitis dux suscipit ictura 
In clipeo, securus eo ; tollensque bipennem, 
Aggreditur comitem, cujus galeamque capudque 370 



14 GESTA tEGCM BUTAN1U£. 

Et totum corpns medium secat. Hinc reliquorum 

Corruit in turbam. Callis qui ducit ad Orcum, 

Quamvis sit latus, strictus tamen esse videtur 

Hiis quos occidit Corineus ; qui solus in omnes 

Currit, et incurrit exercitus omnis in unum. 

Brutus ut hec audit, partem festinat in illam. 

Tunc ingens oritur claraor; tunc magnus ad astra 

It fragor armorum ; tunc indicat utraque turba 

Quid queat; alta ruit diffusi sanguinis unda. 

Ignoratur cui parti victoria cedat ; 380 

Sed tandem sua terga fuge prebent Aquitani. 

Rex vix evadens cedem, cum parte suorum 

Gallica regna petit, ut ibi notos et amicos 

Postulet auxilium. Bis sex tunc temporis illic 

Regnabant reges, sine murmure regna regentes, 

Quisque suum : regem regcs venerantur, et omnes 

Ejus in auxilium devota mente feruntur. 

At Brutus socios spoliis condonat ademptis ; 
Inde cito cursu regionem vastat eamdem ; 
Depopulatur agros, villas incendit et urbes. 390 

Plebs cum cive cadit, perit omnis sexus et etas 
Et genus et species, preter volucresqne ferasquc ; 
Et si quam sibi vim mater natura reservat, 
Tocius regni fcrrum dominatur et ignis. 
Effodiuntur opes ; animalia, farra feruntur 
Ad naves. Brutus post hec incendia, castra 
Est sua metatus iilic ubi dicitur esse 
Nobilis urbs Turonis; fossatis circuit illa; 
Et nisi Gofforii regumque resistere possit 
Impetui, quos cum Turonis prope constat adesse, 400 



LIBEB PRIMCS. 15 

Se deffendat ibi, valli munimine tatus. 

Gofforius nova castra videns : w Proh Jupiter ! inquit, 

Quis Deus exulibus nostris ostendit in horis 

Condere castellum? Satrape, prosternite vallum ; 

Ducite semimares, aut cesos tradite morti." 

Armantur Galli velociter; arma capescunt 

Trojani cicius. Pars utraque tendit ad iilum 

Conflictus campum. Sua spes utrique triumphum 

Promittit parti; sed non manet exitus idem. 

Omnes in Gallos concurrunt agmina Bruti. 410 

Incurrunt in eum Galli. Victoria nescit 

Cui parti faveat, dum Mars sua tela ministrat. 

In primo belli conflictu, Troica turba 

Prevalet agminibns regis; duo millia morti 

Gallorum data sunt; crescunt tamen agmina regis. 

Decrescunt Troes, quamvis majore prematur 

Gallica clade cohors, et Troica turba minorc. 

Regis in auxilium concurrunt undique Galli ; 

Quod Dux prospiciens, socios in castra reducit. 

Incurrunt in eos toto conamine Gaili. 420 

Se bene deffendunt infra munimina valli 

Dardanii juvenes, lapides et previa mortis 

Spicula mittentes in eos et mille sagittas. 

In nemus adducens secum tria milia Troum, 

Exit de castris Corineus de nocte latenter. 

At Brutus, cum jam cepit clarere diei 

Aurea lux, reserat (irmata repagula valli. 

Egrediens Trojana cohors se mittit in hostes ; 

Insurgunt in cam Galli : Mars morsque propinquunt. 

Spicula mille volant, obnubunt mille sagitte a:jo 



16 GBSTA IBGOM BBITARRIA. 

Aera. Mille simul haste franguntur utrinque. 

Mille cadunt proceres ; sternuntur mille clientes. 

Occiditur Turnus, de cujus nomine clarum 

Nomen habet Turonis ; quo nec formosior alter 

Vel probitate prior, vel Bruto carior, istud 

Venerat ad bellum, preter mirabile corpus 

Invicti Corinei, qui quanto Luctfer astra, 

Et sol Luciferum, tanto supereminet omnes. 

Dum dubitat Mavors cui parti pareat, impar 

Apparet Corineus; Gallos nil tale timentes uo 

Occupat a tergo ; sternit sternuntque cohortes 

Que comitantur eum, Gallos in terga; gerentes 

In Brutum vultus, illis audacia crescit 

Qui stant cum Bruto. Galli nec retro nec ante 

Cede carent. Cedunt cedentes. Troica cedit 

Ense cohors, nec cessat eos diversa petentes 

Usque sequi, donec Bruto victoria cedit. 

Dux igitur, quamvis feliciter accidit illi, 
Corde tamen teritur, quum decrescere Troias, 
Augeri semper Gallos videt. Eligit ergo 450 

Utiliusque putat extranea regna relinqui, 
Promissamque sibi terram per iata requiri 
Equora. Trojanis placet hec sententia. Naves 
Confestim repetunt, et eas ingentibus implent 
Divitiis ; ventis dant lintea. Terra petita 
Quinta deinde die Frigiis patet. In Totonensi 
Littore consistunt; infingitur anchora terre. 
Omnes exultant, omnes loca grata salutant, 
Grates dant Trivie. De navibus egrcdiuntur : 
Terra viris nemorosa placet; piscosa fluenta 460 



LIBER PRIMtkS. 17 

Cernens delectat. Tunc teraporis Albyon bujas 
Nomen erat terre, nunc dieta Britannia Major. 
Illustrant faciem terre ; sed nulla virorum 
Facta vident, nullosque viros, ni forte gjgantes 
Paucos, qui fugiunt illos adeuntque cavernas. 
Inde novus regnum sociis rex dividit eque, 
Cuique suam tribuens sortem Castella domosque 
Edificant. Miratur humus se vomere lesam, 
Semine se gravidam, se fetam germine, messe 
Se canam subito ; tamen est in tempore parvo 470 

Dedita culture, quasi sic ab origine mundi 
Culta foret. Nomen populi terreque novatur : 
A Bruto Britones dicuntur, sive Britanni, 
Nomine corrupto. Corineo concedit habendam 
Cornubiam; nomen suum sortitur ab illo. 
Plaga duci placet hec, quoniam provincia nulla 
De cunctis aliis tot habet quot et illa gygantes, 
Inter quos unus, cujus nomen Goemagus ; 
Horridus est fortisque gygas, bis sex cubitorum 
Corpore. Si quercum semei excutit, obruit illam. 480 

IUe ducem sociosque ducis diissacriticantes 
Invadit; comitatur eum fera turba gygantum. 
Vinginti cedunt crudeli cede Britannos. 
Undique concurrnnt Britones; subitoque gygantes 
Omnes dant morti, preter solum Geomagum, 
Quem sibi servari Corineus jubet, ut probet ejus 
Vires luctando. Mirabile provocat ipse 
Ad luctam monstrum ; lucte certamen uterque 
Letus adit ; nacti certam certaminis, astant, 
Hinc dux, inde gygas. Collidunt pectore pectus, 400 



18 GESTA lEGtJM BIITAHHIA. 

Frontem fronte; sibi circumdant brachia; nectant 

Sese ; conatur bic illum sterncre ; nullus 

Exudit, nullus cedit. Par cum parc certe 

Certat in incertum ; crebris afllatibus oris 

Et nimio sudore probant non posse duellum 

Stare diu; nec constat uter sic obruat utrum. 

Nec mora, constrictus tota virtute gygantis, 

Tres costas sibi Corineus frangi percipit, unam, 

In levo unam, dextroque duas; succenditur ira. 

Inde suas vires revocat ; toliitque gygantem 500 

In collo, rupisque petit sublime cacumen; 

Excutit inde Gygen et in altum proicit equor, 

Qui preceps in frusta cadit. Memorabile nomen 

Servat adhuc rupis Geomagi precipitati. 



GESTORUM REGUM BRITANNLE 



LIBER SECUNDUS. 



Prologus secundi libri. 

Lundonias claras condit; tria regna secundus 
Efficit ex uno. Succedit nupta marito, 
Filius huic; frater fratrem laniat, lupus illum. 
Ebraucus regnat et Gallica regna lacessit ; 
Expulso patri regnum sua filia reddit ; 

Ense sui fratris frater cadit, ille parentis. 610 

Quinque simul regnant, regnat Donguallo peremtis 
Collegis ; leges statuit, pacemque reformat. 
Brennius in fratrem convertit prelia ; victus 
Confugit ad Gallos. Ducis illi filia nubit. 

Incipit secundus liber. 

Hiis ita dispositis, Brutus sibi construit urbem, 
Appellatque Novam veteris de nomine Trojam ; 
Quare Trinovantum successio nominat urbem, 
Lundoniasque vocant mutata voce moderni, 
Quam faciunt situs ipse loci placidusque Tamensis 
Prataque et arboribus circumdata littora gratam. 530 

Hanc amat, hanc cingit muris, hanc turribus altis 
Roborat, hanc decorat domibus templisque deorum ; 



20 GESTA 1EGUM BBITARNIf. 

Assignatque suas sub certo federe sortes 

Omnibus, et condit leges; pacemque fidemque 

Firmat, et infirmat contraria. Premia justis, 

Injustis penas promittit, et utraquc solvit. 

Tunc iu Judea dabat Hely sacra sacerdos, 

Atque Philistei servabant federis archam. 

Pandrasiden Brutus cognovit, progenuitque 

Locrinura, Kamber, Albanactum. Moderamen 530 

Regni pacifice vinginti qnatuor annis 

Rexit; tunc demum nature debita solvit, 

Inque Nova Troja quam condiderat tumulatur. 

Fratribus una tribus regio dissolvitur in tres 

Partes : Locrinus primam, Kamberque secundam ; 

Albanactus habet primam mediamque sequentem. 

Locrini pars est Loegria, Kambria Kambri, 

Albanacti pars Albania dicitur ; at nunc 

Demum Locrini pars Anglia, Guallia Kainbri, 

Est Albanacti pars Scocia. Tres tria regna, 540 

Quisque suum, sine lite tenent, sine lite gubernant, 

Donec in Albanas partes rex applicat Humber. 

Albanactus ei cum multis obviat; Humber 

Tradit eum morti; fugiens Albana juventus 

Locrini deposcit opem. Locrinus in Humbrum 

Et Humber veniunt; committunt prelia partes. 

Pars Humbri dat terga fuge; que dum fugit ensem, 

Mergitur in fluvium ; submerso nomen ab Humbro 

Humber habet fluvius. Victoribus omnia victi 

Distribuit sociis Locrinus ; sed tamen aurum 550 

Argentumque sibi proprios conservat in usus, 

Et nimium pulchras tres quas in classe puellas 



LIBER SECUNDCS. 21 

Iovenit. Estrildis prior est et pulchrior harum, 

Filia Germani regis, quam barbarus Humber 

Abstulerat patri tunc cum Germanica regua 

Traderet exitio. Regalis forma puelle 

Vincit Locrinum, connubia cujus inesset, 

Si licuisset ei; sed facta priora repugnant; 

Nam postquam Corineus hec novit, filia cujus 

Nubere Locrino premisso federe debet, 560 

Indignatus adit regem, tollensque bipennem, 

Sic ait : " Hocne mihi meritum, Locrine, rependis 

Pro tot vulneribus que pro te proque parente 

Sustinui tam sepe tuo, quod Guendoloene, 

Quam ducturus eras, penitus connubia spernas, 

Prepositurus ei spernenda cubilia capte? 

Haut impugne feres. Manus hec tibi gaudia vite 

Eripiet, que sepe tuo stipendia mortis 

Eripuit patri. " Clamat, tollitque bipennem, 

Percussurus eum. Medios utriusque propinqui 570 

Inter ponunt se ; fedus pacemque reformant 

Inter eos. Ducit Locrinus Guendoloenam, 

Sed tamen Estrildis non est oblitus amoris ; 

Inque Nova Troja ferri jubet esse ipse meatum 

Sub terra, talamumque facit, clauditque puellam 

Illic occulte. Non audet habere patenter 

Illam, ne Corinei sedatam suscitet iram. 

Septem rex annis illam sine teste frequentat, 

Exceptis paucis. Quociens accedit ad illam, 

Mentitur se sacra deis occulta parare. 580 

Concipit interea Germanica; nascitur illi 

Filia, quaro patrie lingua mater vocat Habren ; 



22 GE8TA EEGUM BEITAHIU*. 

Et regina simul puerum parit, impositumque 

Est illi nomen Maden, materque docendum 

Tradit eum Corineo. Processu temporis ipse 

Decedit Corineus. Locrinus Guendoloenam 

Deserit, Estrildem regine precipit uti 

Nomine reque simul. Indigna[n]s Guendoloena 

Patris adit patriam, popnli collecta paterni 

Agmina deducit in regnum conjugis. Ille 590 

Obviat uzori; sed teli vulnere lesus, 

Occidit. Hinc regni regnum regina regendum 

Suscipit. Estrildim correptam precipitari 

In fluvium cum prole sua facit. Inde novatur 

Nomen aque que Stura prius, nunc dicitur Habren ; 

Ast alia lingua fluvius Sabrina vocatur. 

Post mortem regis, regnavit quinque ter annis 
Guendoloena; decem Locrinus rexerat ante. 
Tunc etate videns Haden sua mater aductum, 
Sponte resinat regni moderamen, eumque 600 

Insignit regis dyademate. Vera prophetat 
In Sylo Samuel, mirandaque fingit Homerus. 
Membricium Malymque sua de conjuge Maden 
Suscipit. Inter eos oritur, post funera patris, 
Scisma super regno; fraterna cuspide Malis 
Occidit occisus. Se solum gaudet habere 
Membricius regnum, tantaque tyrannide ductus 
In sibi subjectos bacchatur nobiliores, 
Quosque fere perimit; cognatisinsidiatur; 
Progeniem delere suam conatur, et omnes $10 

Qui debent illi succedere vive dolove 
Opprimit; uxorem de qua susceperat ipse 



LIBEB 8ECUHDU8. 33 

Ebraucum juvenem lutat, venerique nefande 

Deditus offendit naturam ; provocat iram 

Offensamque Dei. Vingenti polluit annis 

Sceptrum, dum tandem, silvis venante, in iilum 

Exercet rabiem sevissima turba luporum, 

Dilaniantque ipsum. Sic mors infanda nephandum 

Perdit : ab introitu non discrepat exitus ejus. 

Tunc in Judea rex Saul sceptra tenebat. 620 

Ebraucus patri succedit, corpore magnus 

Et fortis. Primus post Brutum Gallica regna 

Classe petit; ferro regiones vastat et igni. 

Transfert victor opes Gallorum; ditat amicos; 

Vinginti natos habuit natasque decem ter 

Ex vinginti conjugibus quas ipse tenebat. 

Silvius in Latio successerat Alba Latino. 

Ejus conjugium dedignabatur inire 

Turba Sabinarum; quod cum fama referente 

Constitit Ebrauco, decies tres ille puellas, 630 

Sic sibi progenitas, dilectum misit ad Albam; 

Nobiiibus conjunxit eas rex Alba maritis. 

Filius Ebrauci, fratrum cum parte suorum, 

Germanos addit Assaracus, multoque cruore 

Undique diffuso, tandem sibi subjugat illos. 

At Brutus, Viridis Scuti cognomine dictus, 

Ebrauci primogenitus succedit eidem. 

Filius illius Leylus, contemptor iniqui, 

Justitie cultor, venie dator, arbiter equus, 

In dando largus, constans et pacis amator, 640 

Succedit Bruto. Pacem servat statuitque, 

Servarique facit leges, et construit urbem 



24 GBSTA EECCM BBITANNIJE. 

Kaerleil, addii ei proprio de nomine nomen. 

Quinque regit lustris, in vite fine remissus 

Et nimium tepidus ; ideo discordia mota 

Est inter Britones, quia rex non corripit illos. 

Rez Salomon templum Domini tunc edificavit; 

Tunc Austri regina stetit coram Salomone, 

Epitus iu Latio post Albam scepra tenebat. 

Post mortem Leyli Ruhudus diadema paternum 650 

Suscipit, et septem lustris et quatuor annis 

Imperat et rigide regnat, pacemque reformat 

Inter discordes; illam quoque construit urbem 

Quam proprio Thomas illustrem sanguine fecit, 

Guintoniamque urbem condit, castrumque Palundur, 

Quod nunc Scephtoniam dicunt, ubi cana vetustas, 

Dum muri fierent, aquilam preclara locutam 

Verba refert. Capis Epitides dat jura Latinis ; 

Ageus, Amos, Leu, Johel Azariasque prophetant. 

Bladudus post fata patris dyadema paternum 660 

Indignus sumit. Bladonem construit urbem; 
Balnea condit in hac, quibus est prelata Minerva; 
Ejus in ede viget qui nunquam defficit ignis. 
Prestigiis intentus avesque imitatus, in altum 
Aera ducit iter; tamen est dejectus ab alto, 
Inque Novam Trojam liquefactis corruit alis, 
Confractisque suis amittit gaudia vite 
Ossibus. Excessum sequitur de jure ruina. 

Bladudum sequitur Leyr, ejus filius; urbem 
Construit, appellat constructam Kaerleyr, et nunc 670 

Nostris eadem Lerecestria dicta. Puellas 
Tres genuit. Nomen est Gonorilla prioris, 



LIBEH SECCNDUS. 25 

Alterius Regau, nomen Cordilla minoris, 
Quas pater iilarum magno dilexit amore, 
Cordillam majore tamen. Vergentibus ejus 
Annis in senium, primam sic temptat et inquit : 
" Dic mihi, dic quantum me diligis. " Illa roganti 
Respondet : " Nichil esse potest quod carius extet 
Te mihi, care pater. " Responsum rex adulantis 
Approbat, et dicit : " Tua sit pars tertia regni, 680 

Filia cara, mei, generumque mihi generosum 
Tu generosa dabis. " Regau quesita roganti 
Sic respondit ei sicut responderat ejus 
Ante soror. Sicut promiserat ante sorori, 
Sic promittit ei. Querenti tertia patri, 
Responsum varians, quem blandire sorores 
Conspicit, inquit : " Eo, genitor karissime, tantum 
Diligo te patrem quo filia debet amare. 
Si non sufficit hoc, et si vis certior esse, 
Audi, vera loquar : quantum te constat habere, 690 

Tanti te dico, tantum te diligo porro. " 
Rex ratus est quod eum sua filia despicit; unde 
Sic affatur eam : " Quia patris despicis annos, 
Tc quoque despiciam ; regno decorabo sorores 
Conjugibusque tuas. Tu regni tocius expers 
Exheresque, viro nubes, si forte maritus 
Ducere te sine dote velit. " Quid plura? Puellas 
Predictas, regni media cum parte, duobus 
Conjungit ducibus, alia sibi pnrte relicta 
Dum vivat. Totum regnum concedit habendum 700 

Post sua fata suis generis, experte minore. 
Interea celebris Francorum regis ad aures 



96 GESTl BEGUH BBITANNIJE. 

Tendit Aganippi Cordille fama. Puellis 

lllam preponens cunctis quas insula gestat 

Predita (namque bonis tam forme, tam rationis, 

Nomen habet clarum), Francorum rex amat illam; 

Postulat hanc patrem ; solo dotata decore, 

Mittitur ad regem regalis filia conjuux. 

Rex igitur Britonum, senio confectus, ab illis 

Privatur regno quibus est divisio facta 710 

Regni. Deponunt huncjqui prefecerat illos. 

Inter eos oritur dispar discordia; toto 

Privatur regno. Generi, gens impia, regnum 

Eripiunt socero. Maglaurus, Scoticus heros, 

Nec probitate minor Henninus Coruubiensis, 

Ambo duces, tandem procerum mediante favore, 

Sic sibi pacificant, premisso federe regni, 

Quod sit triginta sociis coutentus; eisque 

Subsidium vite regali more ministrant. 

Id placet, ad partes firmant. Sua filia major 720 

Prima patrem recipit, et eum sociosque procurat ; 

Cnmque duos annos sic una preteriissent, 

Gonorilla suum sic est affata maritum : 

" Nimirum, miror ita te parere parenti, 

Dux Maglaure, meo. Pueris eadem senibusque 

Mentis inest levitas, quoniam discretio mentis 

Languescit quociens vires in corpore languent. 

Nonne meum decuit private vivere patrem 

Confectum senio ? Ducit diffusius agmen, 

Quam cum regnarct; nostre vix sufficit illi 730 

Proventus terre. Contentus debuit esse 

Viginti tantum sociis ; reliquisque relictis, 



LIBER SECUNDUS. 27 

Nos satis offendet. " Maglaurus conjugis usus 

Consilio, regi quod consulit illa revelat. 

Rex igitur tristis, generum natamque relinquens, 

Tendit ad Heninum, cui regis filia juncta 

Est Regau. Regem letato corde receptum 

Tractat honorifice. Tandem contentio mota 

Est inter domini famulos utriusque ; sed uxor 

Indignata ducis jubet ut rex deserat omnes 740 

Preter quinque suos socios. Rex anxius illam 

Deserit, et repetit primam, quoniam feritatem 

Deposuisse suam putat hanc. Tamen illa, feroci 

Insistens animo, mandat sic impia patri 

Quod si non uno contentus milite tantum 

Esse yelit, querat alium qui colliget illos. 

Ille suos, crebro singultu verba secante, 

Invitus socios excepto deserit uno. 

rota Fortune, que tam cito volveris, altos 

Dejicis ab alto, dejectos tollis in altum! 750 

Nusquam stas stabilis; nusquam pede firma tenaci. 

Ecce Leir, quem turba ducum circumdabat olira, 

Vix habet unius solatia militis. Illa 

Quam facit heredem stirps, ducta Thesiphoneo, 

Exheredebat eum. Rex ergo se sine regno 

Esse videns, nescit quid sit sibi ; quid sit agendum 

Ignorat penitus. Tamen hec in corde revolvit : 

" Que se dicebat me cunctis preposituram, 

He mea progenies cunctis postponit. Oportet 

Aut me, dum vivam, miserandam ducere vitam, 760 

Aut quam despexi Cordille limen adire : 

Forte sui miseri miserabitur illa parentis, " 



i 



28 GE8TA BEGUM BBITANIUJE. 

Nec mora, carpit iter; petit equor, navigat inde; 

Vixque duo comitantur eum, quibus ille profusis 

Sic fatur lacrimis : " quam rata seria fati, 

Que nemo revocare potest! Quis crederet unquam 

Regem mendicura? Contraria sunt in eodem : 

Pauper, rex; in me concordant hec duo solo; 

Nec me tam graviter pondus premit esuriei, 

Quam graviter cruciat repetitio diviciarum 770 

Quas habui. Minus hunc ledit leviusque molestat 

Paupertatis honus qui semper vixit egenus, 

Quam qui mendicat, factus de divite pauper. 

Ilostes quos domui, dum sub me preside tota 

Insula polleret, me deridere jacentem 

Vidi; quas habui caras fecique potentes 

Terga dedere mihi, postquam ravufia fugit. 

Eloquium Cordille nunc denique sensi 

Esse ratum, quoniam quanta est possessio rerum, 

Tanta fides bominum, tanta est dilectio cordis. 780 

Et quid erit tempus in quo Fortuna reversa 

Restituet mihi regni jura, meisque rependam 

Premia provinciis, ut qui me [nosse] negarunt 

Nosse negem, qui me spreverunt spernere possim? " 

Interea navis, felici concita vento, 

Evolat ad Gallos. Carnotum rex erat; illic 

Francorum regina manet; legatus ad illam 

Tendit, qui patris adventum nunciat illi. 

Rex extra muros expectat corde trementi. 

At simul adventum cari regina parentis 790 

Novit, et cventum, cadit amens et fiet amare, 

Massamque argenti tradens aurique clienti, 



LIBER SECUNDDS. 29 

Sic ait : " Hinc cito rex aliam translatus ad urbem 

Egrum se fingat et se regaliter ornet, 

Associetque sibi socios quos exigit apte 

Regia majestas. Tunc demum socius ejus 

Dicat Aganipo socerum venisse Leir rex. " 

Jussa sibi lctus, sine cuncta, cuncta peregit. 

Tocius regni cicius proceresque ducesque 

Ducit in occursum soceri gener. Excipit illum, 800 

Et se demittens, regni committit eidem 

Jura sui, donec fuerit decoratus honore 

Culminis amissi. Confestim convocat omnem 

Miliciam regni. Leyrus cum milite multo 

Invadit generos; quos extulit, opprimit; aufert 

Hiis regnum quibus id dederat, regnatque duobus 

Annis; decedit; succeditque ei sua cara 

Filia, que socerum generis succedere fecit, 

Ordine turbato. Britones Cordilla, marito 

Et patre defunctis, regit annis quinque potenter. 810 

Interea Britones reputant vile subesse 

Femineo juri. Quod cum Cunedagius audit 

Marganusque, ducum proles, quibus abstulit olim 

Regnum rex Leyrus, memorant opprobria patrum, 

Reginam infestant, capiunt, in carcere claudunt. 

Se clausam regina dolet, mortemque propinat 

Ipsa sibi, satagens gladio finire dolorem. 

Dividitur regnum dominis sine lite duobus, 
Pars utriusque ducis sibi gaudet pace bienni ; 
Sed quia participum regni dissensio sepe 820 

Assolet esse comes, Marganus solus habere 
Regnum molitur; partem consortis in igne 



30 CE8TA IEGUX BBITAHNIJB. 

Destruit et giadio. Cunedagius obviat illi ; 
Marteque conserto, capitur Marganus, et expers 
Tocius efficitur : quoniam qui plus petit equo, 
A toto de jure cadit. Cunedagius ergo 
Tocius regni sex lustris rexit habenas. 
Tunc Ysaias cecinit, tunc condita Roma est. 

Postquam decessit Cunedagius, ejus eondem 
Pilius in regno sequitur Rivallo, locuplex, 830 

Et pacis custos, et justus. Temporc cujus 
Sanguineas guttas referunt muscasque cadentes 
De celo, subitam cladem ingessisse Britannis. 
Filius ejus eum sequitur Gurgustius ; illura 
Sillius ; hunc Lago ; Kinmarchus Gorbodugonem 
Precessit. Successit ei sevissima proles, 
Ferrux et Porrex, qui cum videre parentem 
In senium vergisse suum, quis regnet eorum 
Contendunt. Porrex majore cupidine-regni 
Tactus, Ferrugem molitur tradere morti. 840 

IUe fugit, Gallosque petit, regisque Subhardi 
Impetrat auxilium ; redit, adducitque catervas 
Francorum secum. Cui Porrex obviat. In se 
Arma ferunt fratres. Ferrux obcumbit, et omnes 
Qui comitantur eum ; Indonaque, mater eorum, 
Quam dolor in facinus trahit, anxia facta noverca, 
Porricem jugulat fraterna cede madentem. 
Post quorum cedes, Britonum cui cedere sceptrum 
Debeat ambigitur; quia quisque potentior, ejus 
Viribus indulgens, vult uti nomine regis. 850 

Post varias lites diversaque prelia, demum 
Quinque regunt reges regnum cum cismate scissum. 



LIBEB SECUHDUS. 31 

Interea Donguallo probus, nullique secundus 
Viribus aut forma, post patris funera regis 
Cornubie Clotonis, agit memorabile bellum 
Contra Pynnerum, cui tota Loegria servit. 
Cedere dum nescit Pynnerus, ceditur ense. 
Hinc rex Cambrorum Rudaldus, Stateriusque 
Rex Albanorum, confirmant fedus, euntque 
In Donguallonem. Donguallo congregat omnes 860 

Cornubie fortes. Ineunt certaminis impar 
Discrimen partes ; patitur pars utraque passim 
Dampna sui; calcant defuncta cadavera vivi. 
Dum manet in dubio cui stet victoria, fortes 
Sex centos juvenes defunctis hostibus arma 
Demere Dongualio jubet et sibi sumere dempta, 
Et sua deponit assumitque hostica; sicque 
Invadunt reges ut amici, sed tamen hostes; 
Nam perimunt reges. Percussis regibus, omnes 
Qui comitantur eos vertunt sua terga, fugeque 870 

Indulgent. IUos sequitur Donguallo suique ; 
Sed tamen iUe suos metuens, hostilia demit 
Arma sibi, sumptisque suis, non desinit hostes 
Sternere, donec ei cessit victoria. Victor 
Victorum terras adit impiger et sibi subdit. 
Insula servit ei. Facit ex auro dyadema; 
Dat pacem ; statuit leges ; edicit ut omnis 
Qui fugit ad templum vel ad urbes, si licet ille, 
Vel latro, vel predo, vel sit quocunque reatu 
Dampnandus, sit tutus ibi ; tutas ut asilum 880 

Esse vias, tutos jubet agricolas, ut aretur. 
Cessant predones. Siccam consummit erugo. 



32 GESTA HEGCM BRITANIUjE. 

Sic regnum lustris octo Dongnallo gubernat. 

Post hunc Beliuus et Brennius, inclita proles, 
Iilius in regno succedere certat uterque. 
Dividitur regnum; sua pars signatur utrique. 
Ut primo genito, cessit regis diadema 
Soli Belino; frater quoque subditur illi. 
Quinque suum fedus servant, non amplius, annis; 
Namque misceri discordia prosperitati 890 

Sepe solet. Quidam quibus est concordia discors 
Paxque molesta, suo domino dixisse feruntur : 
" Brenni, cur fratri subjectus es? At pater idem 
Vos genuit, materque eadem. Qua conditione 
Es, velut infamis, regis privatus honore? 
Adde quod in multis bellis expertus es. Anne 
Dux Morianorum, te compellente, Reulphus 
Fugit, dum nostros vellet sibi subdere fines? 
Tam fedum fedus rumpendum est; sit tibi conjunx 
Norguegici regis Elsini filia, cujus 900 

Nactus opem poteris adipisei regis honorem. " 
Talibus atque aliis inductus Brennius, illis 
Annuit. Elsini regnum petit. Uxor cidem 
Exoptata datur. Frater commotus in ejus 
Discurrit sortem. Capit opida, vendicat urbes, 
Munitasque suis tradit custodibus illas. 
Brennius audito frater quod fecerat ejus, 
Congregat innumeram soceri de gente cohortem, 
Navigiumque parat; cum conjuge navigat. Ecce 
Rex Dacus Guthlacus eum, correptus amore 910 

Conjugis illius, collectis classe virisque 
Assequitur. Navale parat pars utraquc bellum. 



mmmmmm 



LIBER 8ECCNDUS. 33 

Porte ratis capitur in qua predicta puclla 

Fcrtur; dumque volant ex omni spicula parte, 

Ex improviso perturbant equora venti, 

Disperseque rates diversa ad litora tendunt. 

Rex vero Dacus, ventorum turbine raptus, 

Applicat ad litus Norchanhumbrense, puellam 

Adducens ; populus capit hos, captosque reducit 

Ad regem. Rex ergo scrie recitata 920 

Letus vix recipit interne gaudia meniis. 

Brennius interea, collectis navibus, amens, 
Amisso regno, rapta quoque conjuge, tristis 
Transit ad Albanos et fratri talia scribit : 
" Frater, si fratris es dignus nominc, regnum 
Redde mihi, nuptamque meam, fedusque fidemque 
Juratam serva. Quod si non feceris, ense 
In populum regnumque tuum bachabor et igni ; 
Eripiamque tibi vitam, si forte facultas 
Obtulerit mihi se. " Spretis monitisque minisque, 930 

Perstat in incepto Belinus. Congregat ergo 
Miliciam regni ; fratrem petit. Obviat illi 
Brennius in campo quem circuit undique silva 
Dicta Calaterium ; plus quam civilia bella 
Committunt fratres. Obnubitur eminus aer 
Grandine telorum ; franguntur cominus haste. 
Accedunt propius; commiscent ensibus enses; 
Mors cum marte venit. Gladio testante probatur 
Quis probus aut reprobus, quis fortis, quisve remissus, 
Quis sit amans laudis. Sitit omnis turba cruorem, 940 

Omnes arroa tenent ; omnes feriuntve caduntve. 
Nemo pari parcit; strages jacet alta virorum. 

8 



34 GESTA BEGCM fiB!TANNI£. 

Forte aliquis gladiosve timens, modiceve crucntus, 

Labitur iu terram ; dejecta cadavera lapsum 

Extinguunt, fictamque necem mors vera sequuta cst. 

Est alius lctale gerens sub pectore vulnus, 

Cum prope prospiceret actorem vulneris, ipsum 

Iropetit, et mersis digitis in gutture, fronti 

Dentibus affixis, ad Tartara tendit uterque. 

Brenius ergo videns socios sine fine diei 950 

Deffecisse suos, et prevaluisse Britannos, 

Destituit campum ; lacero fugit agmine ; litus 

Et naves repetunt. Nox hostibus eripit illum ; 

Vix unam nactus navem dat lintea ventis, 

Et fugit ad Gallos, ubi sors sua dirigit illum. 

Fratre triumphato, Belinus consulit omnes 
Primates regni, quid agat de rege retento. 
Convenit ut liber rex permittatur abire 
Cum consorte sua, sumantque perhenne tributum 
A Dacis Britones. Firmato federe, liber 960 

Discedit, potiturque sua securus amica. 
Porro Belinus se solum gaudet honorc 
Ditatum regni ; leges jubet inviolatas 
Esse sui patris. Proceres tamen ipsa viarum 
Jura monent, regemque precantur ut indicet illis 
Quas tutus jubet esse vias, regique dicatas. 

Rex igitur motus procerum prece, precipit unum 
Extendi callem qui, factus scemate mixto, 
Ad mare Comichicum Catinensi ducat ab urbe ; 
Alter ad Hamonis portum ducturus ab urbc est 970 

Meneia ; callesque duos non absque labore 
Ducit ab obliquo qui cantellat regionem. 



LIBER SECCNDCS. 35 

Limiiat inde vias alias quibus itur ad urbes ; 
Quas omncs ex cementi lapidisque pcrhcnnat 
Conjugio, jurique suo rex vendicat illas. 

Brennius est ergo Gallorum ductus in horis, 
Quem bis sex equites comitantur. Supplicat ergo 
Francigenis, et eos exorat supplice vocc 
Ut sibi succurrant. Non exauditus ab illis, 
Tendit ad Alobroges ; quorum dux suscipit illum, ' 980 

Nominc Scginus, ct digno tractat honore. 
Nec mora, dux illum tanto sibi jungit amore, 
Ac si carnalis foret ejus filius, ut cui 
Viribus ct forma ullus rcspondet, in omni 
Obsequio promptus, prodest belloque togaque. 
Unica Segini datur illi filia conjunx. 



GESTORUM KEGUM BRITANNLE 



LIBER TERTIUS. 



Prologus libri tertii. 

Teriius armatos fratres exarmat inermis 
Ammonitu matris. Gallos urbesque Quirini 
Vi superant. Patriam petit. Unus et imperat alter* 
Dacia vectigal reddit. Dat Martia leges. 990 

Devorat immanis crudele belua regem 
Depositum. Pius instituens se degradat ipsum. 
Ter sumit diadema Pius cum regis honore. 
Julius Occeanum transit, victusque recedit. 
Que tociens superare suos non desinit hostes, 
Nec solita est vinci, sed sola Britannia vincit. 

Incipit liber tertius. 

Architenens vix Romuleum compleverat annum, 
Cum dux decedit. Succedit Brennius illi, 
Qui de thesauro quem dux servaverat, et qui 
Est ab avis atavisque ducis collectus, in omnes 1000 

Large distribuit. Cunctorum acquirit amorem 
Muneribus. Vigili cura rectractat apud se 
Qualiter in fratrem Belinum vendicet : unde, 
Agmine collecto, transit mare. Currit in iUum 



38 GESTA REGDM BHITAKK1£. 

Bclinus, Britonumque cohors, dum sempcr hanclat 

In fratris jugulum. Matcr Tonvenua trcmenti 

Se gerit in medium passu ; pacemque rcformat 

Inter eos. Armis ejcctis, oscula fratri 

Innectit frater; omnes sua tela cohortes 

Deponunt; hostis fieri se gaudet amicum. 1010 

Pace reformata, fratrem pudet arma tulisse 

Contra fraternas acies, junctisque catervis, 

In Trinovantum veniunt feliciter urbem. 

Illic proponunt sibi Gallica subdere regna. 

Inde adeunt Gallos, devastantque Gallica rura. 

Nacio Gallorum currit, communis in illos ; 

Prelia coramittunt partes. Tandem agmina fratrum 

Excedunt Gallos, coguntque relinquere campum 

Et dare terga fuge. Fugientes usque sequuntur, 

Donec, dispersis Gallis, capiuntur eorum 1020 

Reges, et capti coguntur dedicioni. 

Inde petunt Romam, percurrunt Ytala regna. 

Porsenne Gabyoque subest Romana potestas 

Consulibus, quibus ut reges vcnisse feruntur 

Cum tot militibus, pacem, non bella petentes, 

Occurrunt illis, portantes plurima dona, 

Seque soluturos illis servile tributum 

Jurant. Dant fratres veniam pacemque ; rcccptis 

Obsidibus, regcs adeunt cum laude triumphi 

Teutonicos, ut eos ingenti tyrannidc vexent. 1030 

Pcnitet interea Romanos federis : unde 
Ad Germanorum partem se consul uterquc 
Transfert. Quod postquam fratrum pervcnit ad aures, 
Consilio fretus Belini, Brennius urbem 



LIBEB TEBTIUS. 39 

Romuleam festinus adit. Romana juventus 

Factum comperiens, Germanica castra relinquit, 

Et Romam repetit promissa nocte. Reducens 

Agmina, Belinus in vallem qua redituri 

Sunt hostes Latii, jacet hic; expectat eorum 

Adventum. Veniunt veniente die ; ruit omnis 1040 

Cautus in iucautos; exterritur. Agmen inerme 

Armati sternant Britones ; non pugna videtur 

Que geritur. Quum ferit hec pars, pars cadit illa. 

Dant Fabii sua terga fuge. Belinus eorum 

Terga secat gladio, nulla pietate retentus. 

Tandem consulibus Latiis nox et fuga prodest. 

Belinus vero, postquam victoria tanta 

Cessit ei, sequitur fratrem, qui menia Rome 

Obsidet, et longa muros indagine cingit. 

Se commisceri gaudent collegia fratrum, ioso 

Impugnantqne urbem. Muros Romana coronant 

Agmina; telorum densus cadit undique. 

Dum nil proficiunt fratres, perjuria patrum 

Obstant obsidibus; quoniam, cernentibus ipsis, 

Suspensi laqueis vitam finire pudendo 

Funere coguntur, victa pietate paterna. 

Urbis amor patres stimulat deffendere muros. 

Dum simul intendunt penitns delere Britanni, 

Servilique jugo perjuram delere Romam, 

Ecce ruit scelerata cohors, quam ducit in hostes 1060 

Consul uterque suos. Norrunt vexilla suorum, 

Inclusi portas reserant prestantque paratum 

Auxilium sociis. Britones nec relro nec ante 

Cede carent; nulla via patet qua cedere possint. 



40 GESTA 1EGUM BtlTANlU£. 

At simul attonitis animi rediere Britannis. 

Stragem non minimam faciunt, ad milia sternunt 

Hostes. Porsenna capto Gabioque perempto, 

Diffugiunt Latii, cedes in terga gerenles; 

Ingentemque urbem victores ingrediuntur; 

Diripiuntur opes quas urbs servarat avara. 1070 

Brennius imperii Romani sumit habenas, 

Sevicia gerit in cives populumque Quirinum. 

Inde suum regnum cum magna laude triumphi 
Rex Belinus adit, tractatque in pace Britannos; 
Semirutas reficit urbes, legesque paternas 
Confirmat. Claram Legionum construit urbem. 
Cujus combusti cineres servantur in auro 
Lundoniis, in turre nova quam fecerat ipse. 

Goruhaudus Barbe-Rubee, non degener heres 
Locrini, sumit digne dyadema paternum ; ioso 

Justicie custos, cultor pietutis, amator 
Pacis, deffensor vidue, tutela pupilli, 
Hostibus hostis, amicus amicis, fortis in armis, 
Vultu conspicuus illustri, corpore magnus, 
Consilio cautus, in dando munere largus. 
Qui cum vectigal sibi reddere Dacia spernit 
Juratum patri,^fert egre, transmeat ergo 
Ad Dacos et eos sibi subdit, regeque ceso, 
Reddere constringit populum servile tributum ; 
Dumque citis velis victor redit, ecce decem ter 1090 

In medio plenis juvenum simul et mulierum 
Obviant Occeano ratibus. Rex querit eorum 
Adventus causam. Quorum dux transit ad illura, 
Et junctis manibus supplex, genibusque reflexis, 



LIBEH TEBTIUS. 41 

Inquit : " Ab Hispanis expulsi finibus, anno 

Elapso, mare classe vaga sulcamus, ubi sors 

Nos agit errantes. Petimus pronique rogamus 

Ut certam partem sit nobis fas habitare 

In regione tua. " Precibus ducis annuit. Illis 

Insula nacta datur, nullis habitata priorum. 1100 

Cumque dies vite regis suprema veniret, 

IUe bonis cedit, et in urbe jacet Legionum. 

Guizelinus ei succedit; jura benigne 
Regni, dum vivit, tractat; cui Marcia conjunx 
Traditur, ingenio pollens, insignis et omni 
Arte; novam legem statuit, de nomine cujus 
Nomen sortitur. Defuncto rege gubernat 
Marcia pacifice regnum ; nam filius ejus, 
Tantum septenis, Sisillius, ad dyadema 
Portandum non est maturus. Marcia vero mo 

Frena regit regni rigide. Postquam sua solvit 
Debita nature, juvenis Sisillius iiU 
Succedit, regnique decus sibi sumit honusque. 

Post iilura regnat Kinuuarus, filius ejus. 
Damus ei frater succedit; at illum 
In regno sequitur Morindus, filius ejus, 
Sed non legitime natus. Quo corpore major, 
Vel probitate prior, vel largior in tribuendis 
Muneribus, nullus toto reperitur in orbe ; 
Sed nimis indulgens feritati, suffocat omnes 1120 

Virtutes alias quibus est laudabilis ipse. 
In regnum cujus, magna comitante caterva, 
Rex Morianorum sevus venit. Obviat Hli, 
Innumero Britonum circumdatus agmine. Partes 



42 GESTA REGOM BltTANM£. 

Prelia coramittunt. Stragciu facii agmen utrumque; 

Solus rex Britonum gladio facit in Morianos - 

Majorem stragem quam cetera turba suorum. 

Cedit ei tandem victoria ; scvit in hostes 

Terga fuge dantes, gladioque suo jubet omnes 

Servari; satagensque sue furialiter ire, 1130 

In cunctos fertur; cunctorum funcra gaudet 

Ascribi sibimet. Fera dextra percuticndo 

Forte fatigatur ; sed mens sitibunda cruoris 

Indefessa manet, dum cessat dextera lassa. 

Ipse facit propriis spoliari pellibus omnes, 

Appositoquc jubet spoliatos igne crcmari. 

Dum vacat in cunctis intento cordc furori, 
Bellua que rcgis crudclia vindicet acta, 
Exit ab Occeano. Quam cum prope constat adesse, 
Magnanimo regi poscit certamen inire, 1140 

Solus cum sola. Telis petit exicialc 
Monstrum. Consumptis manet hoc sinc vulnerc telis, 
Et regem oppressum mendico devorat ore, 
Et quasi pisciculum ventri commendat inani. 

Gorbonianus ei succedit, filius ejus 
Major, cui fratres sunt quatuor. Equius illo 
Nemo regnavit. Kestaurat diruta templa, 
Et nova plura facit. Superis impendit honorem ; 
Justitiam servat ; vires enervat iniqui ; 

Agricolas reddit tutos, et furta prophanat, 1150 

Et fortes ditat juvenes. Quo preside, pollet 
Jnsula divitiis quantis nec retro nec ante 
Claruit. Omnis abest pcdo; pax rcgnat ubique. 
Tandem de medio sublatus obit ; clarisque sepultus 



LIBEB TEKTIUS. 43 

Londoniis, magno turauli decoratur honore. 

Ardigalo frater succedit Gorboniano, 
Fratri dissimilis gestis, ut qui generosos 
Opprimit, exaltat infames, divitibusque 
Divicias aufert et opes, de rebus corum 
Accumulans. Britonum sibi querit in omnibus iram ; ii60 

Insurgunt in eum, solioque viriliter illum 
Privant, et regem privatc vivere cogunt. 

Jllius frater Elidurus regis honore 
Post illum potitur; Pius appellatur ob ipsum 
Quod fecit cum fratre suo signum pietatis. 
Namque sui regni lustro incipicnte secundo, 
Dum sequitur cervos, frater suus obviat illi 
In nemore Archallo. Quo viso, frater in ejus 
Se gerit amplexus, repetitaque basia fratris 
Imprimit facicm, consolaturque gementem, 1170 

Et secum deducit eum talamoque reponit. 
Omnibus ignaris facti rex ergo vocatis 
Regni principibus, pacemque (idemque reformat 
Inter eos, fratrcmque suum fratrique coactos 
Subdit eos, demitque suo dyadema suique 
Imponit fratris capiti : Pius inde vocatur. 

Rex uovus hinc regnat lustris in pace duobus, 
Exercens vite contraria facta priori ; 
Denique decedit; populoque favente Britanno, 
Nomine rcque pius Elidurus frena secundo 11*0 

Assumens regni, bene rcgnat ; sed Paledurus 
Ingeniusque, duo regis fratres Eliduri, 
Insurgunt in eum, et fratrem deponere temptaut, 
Et tandem capiunt, et privant regis honore. 



44 GESTA HEGClf BB1TAN1II£. 

Fratribus enim regni divisio facta duobus, 

Mors concludit eis ; Elydurum tertia regem 

Mors facit. Iu regno post illum Gorboniani 

Filius erigitur, patremque immitatur in actu. 

Ardigalonis cum Marganus filius ipso 

In equo sequitur, omni bonitate decorus; n&o 

Post quem sex annis frater suus Ennius ipsum 

Regnum detractans, regni privatur honore. 

Filius Ingenii post hunc Ytuvallo gubernat 

Regnum. Succedit Pereduri filius illi, 

Rynio. Pii proles sequitur Gerancius ilium. 

Succedit Castellus ei; sequiturque Coillus. 

Hic habuit natos tres, est Fulgencius uni 

Nomen, et Eldanus aliis est, Andragiusque. 

Hinc primogenitus regnat Fulgencius; inde 

Eldanus regnum post fratris fata gubernat; 1200 

Post hunc Andragius, Urianus, Enos, Eliudus, 

Rodaldus, Cloteus, Gorhuandus, Merianus, 

Blcdunus, Capius, Sisillius et Beglabredus. 

Hic quum cunctos excellit in arte canendi, 

Est joculatorum decus et tutela vocatus. 

Post hunc Archinayl, Rodyon, Rodericus, Eldon, 

Succedunt, Samul, Pennisel, Piz, Capoyrus. 

Isti succedit Dygoellus, filius ejus, 

Vir justus, fortis, prudens, pius atque modestus. 

Post illum regnat illius filius Hely, 1210 

Et lustris octo tractat sine fraude Britannos. 

Post obitum cujus Ludh regnat, filius ejus, 

Dapsilis, et fortis, et justus, et edificator 

Murorum ; renovat plures et construit urbes. 



LIBEB TEBTIUS. 45 

Cassibellanus frater succedit eidem, 
Quamvis Androgeus, Tenuancius, inclita proles 
Hely fratris, regalis attingere culmen honoris 
Deberent; tamen id fieri minor impedit etas. 

Julius interea, post Gallica regna subacta, 
Partis in opposite stans litore, nomine regnum 1220 

Prospiciens Britonum, gentis terreque relato 
Nomine, sic inquit : " Latios Britonesque fuisse 
Ejusdem generis memorat veneranda vetustas ; 
Sed tamen a nobis distant probitate locoque. 
Hortandi cito sunt nobis prestare tributum, 
Aut vi cogendi. " Quod cum scripsisset, et ipsi 
Handasset regi, rex indignatus eidem, 
Consilio fretus beroum, talia scripsit : 

" Roma manus rodens, thesauri dedita tante 
Ydropisi, quam nulla phisis tibi tollere novit, 1230 

Quid tibi nobiscum? Cur nos tibi subdere tcmptas? 
Ardor avaricie quo naturaliter ardes, 
Te stimulat census mundique sitire metalla. 
Laudamus Partos, et in hoc absolvimus illos, 
Quod Cresus vitam finivit funere digno, 
Ore bibens aurum quod corde sitivit avaro. 
Attamen Eneas a quo patre ducimus ortum, 
Nos facit equales ; nulli servivimus unquam, 
Nulli paremus, nulli parere tenemur. 

Nobilitas eadem nos et vos reddit eosdem 1240 

Quos partim superare cnpis, partimque subesse. 
Cesar, qui ceso nomen trahis istud ab hoste, 
Ne quia cederis, sis Cesar : cede Britannis. 
An quia subcumbit tibi Gallia victa, superbis, 



46 CESTA REGFM BRITAK1U£. 

Quam tam sepe patres nostri domuissc feruntur 
Et quandoque tui nostris solvere tributum? " 

Cesar ut audivit rcgis responsa, leone 
Sevior irato, nimia succenditur ira ; 
Navigiumque parat, vento dat vela, Tamensem 
Classe petit fluvium. Quem cum venisse refcrtur 1350 

Regi, regni rex armatos convocat omnes. 
Princeps milicie regni, regisquc nepotes, 
Tresque simul reges, procerumquc ducumque catervc, 
Regis in auxilium properant; cum Cesarc bellum 
Committunt; hinc inde volant pcr littora pila, 
Cesa cadunt quorum non est numerus moricntum 
Corpora. Sanguineus altas deducit harenas 
In Pelagus torrens, rubcasque facitmaris unclas. 
Dum stat in ambiguo cui martis gloria cednt, 
Nennius, innumero stipatus militc, frater 1200 

Regis, et Androgeus dispergunt Cesaris agmen. 
Nennius et Cesar, arreptis ensibus, alter 
Tendit in alterius jugulum; sed Ccsaris cnsem 
Alter ei demit, cujus natura stupenda cst, 
Nomine mors crocea : quod nomen contigit illi 
Cedis ab evcntu, quod si quem sauciat, illi 
Nulla medela potest vite conferre salutem. 
Julius, amisso gladio, fugit; ejus in ipsum 
Nennius ense furit; convertunt terga Quirini, 
Qui mortis croccc vim norant. Dum fugicntcs 12:0 

Inscquitur, dum mille cadunt ictuve mctuve, 
Occurrit Labienus ci, ditatus honoris 
Jure tribunicii, cujus capud amputat cnse 
Ncnnius. Hinc fugiunt Lacii passim, laccratis 



LIBER TERTIUS. 47 

Agminibus, repetuntque suas cum Cesarc naves ; 
Ad Gallos remisque ratcs velisque fcruntur. 

Rex igitur victor, supcrato Cesnre lctus, 
Victorum dispergit opes victoribus eque ; 
Virtutum titulos declarat dextcra dantis. 
Sed quia dum ridet, deridet gloria mundi, 1280 

Inter letitie plausus voce3que triumphi, 
Occupat interior luctus precordia regis; 
Nam vulnus letale gerens in pectore frater 
Regis, presentis amittit gaudia vite, 
Et Tritonantum conditus conditur urbe. 
In cujus tumulo tumulatur Cesaris ensis. 

Constitit in Gallis Latios rediisse fugatos, 
Cesareo sua colla jugo subducere temptant. 
Namque putant Britones, fama referente, venire, 
Romanosque sequi, tutum quoque classibus cquor. 1290 

Cesar ut agnovit Gallos sibi bella minari, 
Et se post Britonum ceriamina debilitatum, 
Discordes sibi concordat cum plebe potentes, 
Large distribuens illi aurum quod avare 
Accumulaverat. Exheredatis sua jura 
Restituit : timet hos Cesar quibus ipse timori cst. 
Quam bona libertas! quam detestabilis auri 
Argentique fames! Que libera debuit esse 
Et potuit, corrupta datis gens Gallica servit. 
Cesar letatur Gallis sibi pacificatis ; 1300 

Corde tamen teritur quociens memoranda retractat 
Bella Britannonim, conversaque trrga suoruni. 

Julius, innumero circumdatus ngmine, magnum 
Transmcat Occeanum. Quem rex Britonum venicntem 



48 GESTA EEGCM DftlTANMJE. 

Comperiens, orbes et diruta menia munii, 

Hamatasque sudes prudens affigit in amne 

Quo classis Romana venit; firmatque marinos 

Portus, ne regnum possint intrare Quirini. 

Nec raora, Cesar adest; fluvium petit; in latitantes 

Se male fert ignara sudes, classis peritura; 1310 

Lesa receptat aquas ; impletam ducit in imum 

Pondus aque : Latii mortem patiuntur in undis. 

Quorum naufragium Cesar cum parte suorum 

Eminus aspiciens, ad terram vcla retorquet, 

Et sic cvadit genus hoc miserabile mortis. 

Rex vero Britonum, quem visa pericula gentis 

Romane letum faciunt, pars salva molestat, 

Irruit in Latios. Latiorum turba resistit ; 

Vulnera dant capiuntque simul. Pars omnis anhelat 

Partis in interitum ; sed pars Romana minoris 1320 

Est numeri, patiturque sui dispendia passim. 

Decrescunt semper Latii, Britonumque cohortes 

Augentur semper. Quod cum dux ipse videret, 

Depuduit dare terga fuge, votoque petitum 

Ad Morianorum litus subducere naves. 

At victor, victo bis Cesare, pectore toto 

Letus diis celi grates impendit, et omnes 

Precipit acciri proceres procerumque maritas. 

Conveniunt igitur ex omni parte vocati, 
Sacrificantque deis tauros niveasque juvcncas ; 1330 

Innumerosque boves mactant, volucresquc ferasque 
Diversi generis, adolent quoque thuris odorcm. 
Inde vacant epulis. Ineunt post seria ludos. 
Urbs Tritonantum leto tonat undique plausu. 



LIBER TERTIUS. 49 

Sed qnia succcssus liumani stare tenaci 

Non possunt passu, sed eos rota volvit in orbe, 

Vertitur in Iuctum regalis tibia plausus. 

Nainque duos juvenes, forma prcstante, nepotes 

Regis et Androgei, nitida certasse palestra 

Contigit. Androgei nepos ferit ense nepotem isio 

Regis, eumque neci tradit. Tunc concio tota 

Concita turbatur. Regem dolor occupat ingens. 

Acciri faciens homicidam, judicat illum 

Esse reum mortis ; quoniam qui percutit ense, 

Ense jubet perimi veteris sacra lectio legis. 

Hoc vetat Androgeus. Rex indignatus in ejus 

Sevus bachatur igni ferroque ducatum ; 

Nec precc nec pretio cepta desistit ab ira. 

Androgeus nil esse videns quod competat illi, 
Cesaris in partem se transfert. Cesar in ejus 1350 

Auxilium confisus adit miserabile regnum. 
Jam quoque Lundonias obsederat, opida, villas 
Ruraque vastarat; sed postquam novit adcsse 
Cesareas acies hinc inde, necemque subire, 
Pugnando cito deserit obsidionem, 
Armaque convertit a civibus ejus in hostes. 
Sese conspiciunt Latii Britonesque paratos 
Ad bellum, votisque petunt committere martem. 
Disponunt acies hinc iude, necemque"subire 
Pugnando cupiunt pocius quam vertere terga. 1360 

Omnis abcst hinc inde timor; gravis csse videtur 
£t dampnosa mora. Turmis pugnare paratis, 
Concurrunt acies. Emittunt previa mortis 
Spicula; nulla manus torpescit dum tenet ensem. 



50 GESTA REGDM BIITANNIA. 

Aut cadit aut cedit pars utraque; cedere cede 

Turpius esse putant. Mortem decus esse triumphi, 

Qui cum laude venit, reputant; nec vivere curat 

Quis, nisi cui dederit celebrem victoria vitam. 

Dum Britones Latios lacerant, Latiique Britannos, 

Irruit Androgeus et milia quinque virorum, 1370 

Invaditque ferox regem regisque cohortes 

A tergo. Quibus ante dabat Romana juventus 

Terga, suos fugiunt cives sua terga prementes. 

Quid facis, Androgcu? Que te dementia cogit 
In populum sevire tuum? Servire laboras, 
Qui fueras dominus ; tua te victoria victum 
Reddit; dumque tuos superas, te subjicis hosti. 
Non tu, sed Cesar curru victore vehetur. 
Quo vultu cernes tabulam Britonesque ligatos? 
Cesar erit victor, et tota Britannia victa. 138O 

Victor, honus pro laude feres, et Cesar honorem. 
Ecce tuus frater, Tenuancius, hostibus hostis, 
Pugnat pro patria et pro libertate tuenda; 
Tu certas ut ferre jugum generosa propago 
Addiscat Britonum, reddatque perhenne tributum. 
Esto memor Bruti, nec agas contraria Bruto, 
Qui libertatem captivis patribus olim 
Reddidit, et proprio tribuit de nomine nomen. 

Mons sublimis erat, cujus prerupta cacumen 
Saxa coronabant, excelse turris ad instar. 1390 

Iilic ascendunt Britones, cum rege, cohortes. 
Cesar et Androgeus regem Britonesquc sequuntur; 
Sed rex et Britones, montis fastigia nacti, 
Portitcr insistunt; jaccntes saxa, sequentes 



LIBEE TERTICS. 51 

Precipitant saxis. Sed totum Cesaris ale 

Circueunt montem. Nullus patet exitus illis 

Obessis ; fame Cesar eos consumere gestit. 

Quod rex intendens, scribit mittitque nepoti 

Talia verba suo cum precedente salute : 

" Care nepos, miserere mei, miserere tuorum ; 1400 

Parce tue patrie; mihi fac cum Cesare pacem. 

Nos fame devicti submitti cogimur bosti. " 

Androgeus, postquam regalis littera lecta est, 
Sic ait : " In bello pietas, in pace tyrannis, 
Utraque culpanda est. Quam recte, numina celi, 
Omnia disponitis! Patruus meus ecce precatur 
Quam dare contempsit veniam mibi. Cesaris orat 
Pace frui, cujus pacem prius ipse rogabat 
Cesar. Debuerat igitur me rex revereri, 
Qui dare terga fuge dextra victrice coegi 1410 

Cesareas acies. Decuit perpendere regem 
Hos quos victores feci me reddere posse 
Victos; quos vici, versa vice, reddere posse 
Victores. Non ego fui tractandus inique. 
Est stolidus princeps, qui per quos ipse triumpbat 
Et per quos regnat caros, infestat ut hostes. 
Sed quoniam supplex pacem veniamque precatur, 
Tractabo jam de regis ego cum Cesare pace. " 
Cesaris inde pedes amplexus, postulat illum 
Ut tribuat regi veniam, sumatque tributum. 1420 

Cesar vix motus precibus ducis, annuit illi. 

rex infelixl quid agis? Pax Cesaris omni 
Est nece deterior, et peste molestior omni. 
Hanc tua posteritas pacem merebit in evum, 



52 GESTA RECUM BRITANfU£. 

Imponet pax ista jugum servile futuris. 

Cesaris et regis Grmata pace, tributi 

Taxato numero, cujus tria milia summa cst 

Marcharum argenti, tunc nostra Britannia priimun 

Addiscit portare jugum dominumque timere. 

Vere novo, Cesar, collectis undique turmis, 1430 

Tendit in Ytaliam. Confundit fasque nephasque ; 

Contra commanem bellum gerit utilitatem ; 

Pompeyo fugiente, sibi vis vindicat omne. 

At postquam Tytan septem compleverat annos, 

Cassibeilanus nature debita solvit. 

Succedit dux Cornubie Tenuancius illi ; 

Nam dux Androgeus ierat cum Cesare Romam. 

Kybelinus ei succedit, filius ejus, 

Quem prius Augustus Rome nutriverat, armis 

Munierat, donis ditaverat. Unde Quirinos 1440 

Diligit in tantum, quod cum retiuere tributum 

Nec dare Romanis possit, sine murmure reddit. 



GESTORUM REGUM BRITANNLE 



LIBER QUARTUS. 



Incipit quartus liber. 

Quartus ab Augusto cepit; factoque per orbem 
Edicto, natoque sacra de virgine Christo, 
Pacificat oova nupta suum cum patre maritum. 
Rusticus intrusus vi regnat, rege perempto. 
Lucius in Christum credit, Christoque dicatas 
Ecclesias dotat; distinctas ordinat urbes. 
Rex Constantinus sceptrum tenet imperiale. 
Jura bis assumit Octavius, et gener ejus 1450 

Armoricara superat terram, mutatque ducatum 
In regnum. Regnat Conanus primus in illo. 

Dum Kibelino subjecta Britannia servit, 
Augustus Cesar sceptrum gerit imperiale, 
Edictoque dato totus describitur orbis. 
Christus homo natus cepit carnaliter esse. 
Qui sine principio, qui principium sine fine, 
Et tamen est finis ad quem spes omnis hanelat ; 
Quem virgo peperit, genitorem filia, florem 
Arida virga novum, qui contulit ariditati 1460 

Nostre fructiferum florem partus tamen ejus. 
Unde sui partus nescit natura ; stupetque 



54 GESTA BEGUM fiMTANlUJE. 

Angelus inferni, quoniam nil invenit illic 

Mortali simile, nil quod corrumpere possit. 

Quo veniente venit completio temporis : hic est 

Sanctus sanctorum, regum Rex. Unctio cessat 

Ejus in adventum, quem Sanctus Spiritus unxit. 

Hic est Messias quem predixere prophete, 

Sol sub nube latens, eclipsis nescius, et lux 

In tenebris lucens, nullis obscura latebris, 1470 

Ignis non urens, ignisque in noctc columpna. 

Hic verus Moyses sicco pede per Mare Rubrum 

Duxit iter, subiens crucis aram sanguine fuso. 

Jordanem primus Moyses non transiit; iste 

In Jordanis aqua nostrum scelus abluit. Ille 

Egyptum populo Domini spoliavit; at iste, 

Infernum penetrans, infcrni federa rupit. 

Ille Dei servos ad terram melle fluentem 

Ducere non potuit, preventus morte ; fideles 

Iste suos duxit secum, fecitque perhenni uso 

Pace frui, faciemque Dei sine fine videre. 

At Kybelino lustris regnante duobus, 
Insula divitiis et larga pace resultat. 
Jamque duos juvenes generarat, nomina quorum 
Guider et Arviragus. Guider, post funera patris, 
Frena regit regni rigide, prohibetque tributum 
Reddi Romanis. Confestim Claudius illuc 
Cesar ducit iter, cum qub venit impiger Hamo, 
Milicie princeps, Britones vexare parati. 
Cesaris adventum fama referente, Britannos 1490 

Ducit in occursum Latiorum Guider, eosque 
Strenuus invadit. Rex solus vulnera plura 



LIBEB QGABTCS. 55 

Infert Romanis, quam maxima pars sociorum. 

Claudius ergo videns non posse resistcre regi 

Romanas acies, naves in litore stantes 

Victus adit. Dispersa fugit Romana juventus. 

Cum sua versutus deponit bellicus Hamo 

Arma sibi, sumitque Britannica; cumque Britannis 

Insequitur Latios. Demum mucrone soluto 

Interimit regem; partem petit inde suorum. 1500 

Protinus Arviragus regis celer induit arma, 

Hortaturque suos prosternere fortiter hostes. 

Fortiter insistunt ; credentes vivere regem, 

Sternuntur Lacii. Cesar cum parte suorum 

Litus adit navesque suas. At Lelius Hamo 

Ad nemorum secreta fugit. Sequitur fugientem 

Turba Britannorum; ruit huc illucque; ruentem 

Occupat Arviragus, ejusque in margine ripe 

Amputat ense caput. Nomen tenet iude perempti 

Hamonis portus, longumque tenebit in evum. 1510 

Claudius interea, revocatis viribus, urbem 
Obsidet atque capit cujus Porcestria nomen; 
Arviragumque citis vestigat gressibus, urbem 
Guintoniam ingressum, quem circumstantibus alis 
Obsidet. Innumeras jaciunt hinc inde sagittas, 
Grandine plura volant mortis prenuncia pila, 
Bellica securos impellit machina muros. 
Quod rex intuitus, equitum peditumque catervas 
Dividit in turmas, et, apertis undique portis, 
Egressi Britones Romanis bella minantur. isso 

Claudius ergo, timens regem gentemque ferocem, 
Extimat utilius sibi pacem regis habere, 



56 GESTA KEGCM BKITAMUjE. 

Quam subiti dubium belli certamen inire ; 

Unde sub hac forma discordes unio pacis 

Alligat. Efficitur subjecta Britannia Romc. 

Arvirago Genuissa datur sacra Cesare conjunx. 

Claudius inde redit Romam, potiturque triumpho. 

Condidit Ecclesiam tunc temporis Antiochenam 

Petrus ; et inde petens Romam decoratur honore 

Pontificis, deccratque suam, se preside, sedcm. 1530 

Destinat ad Pharios Marcum, qui predicat illis, 

Voce leonina, post mortem vivere Christum. 

Arviragus vero regnum regnique propinquas 

Pacifice terras regit, et pollere vigore 

Et sensu cepit. Urbes, castella domosque 

Edificat, legesque novas et principe dignas 

Condit. Cuncta videns sibi subcessisse, superbit, 

Juratumque negat Romanis solvere censum. 

Claudius, audita re gesta, Vcspasianum 

Dirigit in Britones. Missus cum militc multo, 1540 

Applicat in portu Rutupi. Rex ocius aura 

Hostibus occurrens, collatis denegat armis 

Introitum regni Latiis ; Latiique rcpulsi 

Carbasa daut Euro, qui classem flamine recto 

Ad litus Totonense trahit. Tunc Vaspcsiunus 

Obsidet Exoniam. Rex Arviragus cuneique 

Innumeri Britonum tendunt llluc, Latiosque 

Fortitcr invadunt. Latiorum turba repugnat. 

Nemo referre potest quot corpora sunt in eodem 

Interfecta die. Nulli victoria parti 1550 

Cessit ibi, donec exorta luce sequenti 

In medium Genuissa stetit pacis mediatrix, 



LIBEB QCARTUS. 57 

Cum Latiis Britones sedans, cum patre maritum. 
Hinc repetunt Latium Latii, regnumque gubernat 
Arviragus sine lite suum; sine fraude senatum 
Tractat Romanum. Cana veniente senecta, 
Mens regis viget interior, quam scrior etas 
Non premit; apparet in cano vis juvenalis. 
Post obilum cujus Marius diadema paterni 
Regni suscipiens, Romanos cepit amare, 1560 

Illis exactum solvens sine lite tributum. 
Pilius ejus ei Coilus succedit, et actus 
Illius innocuos imitans, sine crimine regnat. 
Inde patri Coilo succedit Lucius, orto 
Lucifero prelucidior; nam lucet in ejus 
Tempore vera iides, errorum nube fugata. 
Quod simul audierat Cbristi vulgasse clientes 
Verbum incarnatum, regem de virgine natum, 
In cruce defunctum, vita post funera functum, 
Scribit Eleutherio dictamina talia pape : 1570 

" Sancte pater patrum, me turbant traditiones 
Que plures fecere deos pluresque penates, 
Quique creatori res preposuere creatas. 
Ydola plena dolo reor esse. Potentia celi 
Non est in lignis ; Demon respondet in illis 
Vana suis membris. Deus est et trinus ct unus, 
A quo, per quem, in quo sunt omnia. Gloria, virtus, 
Laus et honor sit ei soli per secula cuncta ! 
Uniat crgo Deo Christi nos unio, tanquam 
Membra suo capiti. Sacri baptismatis unda 1580 

Postulo mundari, conformarique creatum 
Plasma Creatori. Male pars committitur omnis 



\ 



/ 



58 GESTA BEGOM BMTAfllU£. 

A toto diversa sao : te deprecor ergo 

Ut raittas aliquos in Christi legc peritos 

Ad partes vestras, qui me populumque Britannum 

Informent mundentque sacri baptismate fontis. " 

Est igitur regis audita peticio digna; 
Namque duos mittit presul sanctissimus illuc 
Doctores fidei, qui sacri gurgitis unda 
Devotum mundant regem regisque ministros. 1590 

Exemplo verborum vocant ad premia vite 
Tocius regni populum, verique lavacri 
Unda purificant; et phana prophana deorum 
Sancta Deo sanctisque ditant, traduntque probatis 
Ilia colenda viris Christumque iidemque professis. 
Assignant urbes vingenti et octo sacratis 
Presulibus totidem; sed submittunt tribus illos 
Archipresulibus. Pars subjacet Eboracensi, 
Cum sibi commissis populis ; pars Londoniensi, 
Pars Legionensi. Sic disjuncta regione, 1600 

Doctores Romam repetunt. Confirmat eorum 
Dictus apostolicus factum. Sunt idem reversi 
Cum sanctis aliis, quorum doctrina fideles 
Reddit et informat in Christi lege Britannos. 

Lucius intcrea, regnum lucere corusca 
Luce nove fidei gaudens, convertit in usus 
Ecclesie, que templa prius tenuere deorum. 
Ex octoginta subductis quatuor annis 
Post incarnatum celesti semine Verbum, 
Lucius ethereas letus secessit in auras; 4610 

Et quia decessit sine prole, Britannia Major 
Rege carens, spernit Romanis solvere censum. 



LIBER QUABTDS. 59 

Curia magnanimum mittit Romana Severum 
Iu Britones, pariterque duas equitum legiones, 
Qui partem regni capiunt. Fulgencius iilis 
Magnaque pars procerum pro libertate resistunt; 
Et quandoque fugant Britones, quandoque fugantur. 
Nunc perimunt Lacios, nunc et perimuntur ab illis. 
Tandem dux nequiens Fulgencius arma Severi 
Ferre, Citas Pictosque adiens, implorat eorum 1620 

Auxilium ; quod et impetrat. Inde reversus in hostes, 
Innumeras ducit acies, castrisque locatis 
Obsidet Eboracum. Velox petit obsidionem 
Turba Quirinorum. Comitatus dux utriusque 
Disponit cuneos, ineunt certamina partes. 
Nullus arare stilo quot reddidit agrum utrumque 
Exicio posset. Dux occidit ense Severus, 
Et letale gerit vulnus Fulgencius in se. 
Inde super regni lis diademateque mota est ; 
Namque duos juvenes, proles preclara Severi, 1630 

Quorum nomina sunt : Basianus, matre Britanna, 
Et Geta, Romana geniti, quis regnet eorum 
Certant; Basianum Britones, Romana laborat 
Tiirba Getam, toti regno proponere regem. 
Cum frater fratri contemnat cedere, cumque 
Sic paris impaciens subeunt examina martis, 
Proponunt gladiis Lacii, Britonesque cruentis 
Ensibus excipiunt. Laciis concluditur armis, 
Et pro Basiano Mavors sentenciat ipsum, 
Contempnendo Getam, quem cum parte suorum jeto 

Occumbit Geta dux. Potitur diademate frater, 
Qoo regnante virum media de plebe creatum, 



60 GESTA BEGCM BRITANNI£. 

Magnanimum fortemque tumen Forluna levavit; 

Nam circumveniens simulato corde senatum, 

Impetrat ut Britonum fines et litora tuta 

Reddat ab incursu vicinorumque rapina. 

Congregat innumeras naves, sociat sibi regni 

Electos juvenes, et bella piraiica toto 

Exercet pelago, vicinaque littora vastat, 

Et loca litoribus contermina. Nulla pavore 1650 

Aze sub occiduo caret, insula nulla tucri 

Ejus ab incursu se sufficit; opida, villas, 

Urbes, rura suis opibus spoliat, spoliisque 

Conspoliatores ditat, ditcsquc manipli 

Invitant alios quorum mens res alicnas 

Usurpare sibi est; tot habet tantasquc phalanges, 

Quod cunctos supcrans superari a nemine possit. 

Est illi nomen Carausius inclitus actis. 

Inde tumet festusque parit, sociumquc recusat 

Mcns elata viri, que, originis immemor unde 1660 

Existat natus, ad regni culmen anhelat. 

Jamque leves animos Britonum corrumpit, ut ipsum 

Instituant regem, Basiano rege perempto. 

Intrusus regnat, se regnum rege prophanans. 

Que simul agnovit Romanus gesta scnatus, 

Destinat AUectum, committens tres legiones 

Illi, qui mortem Basiani morte typanui 

Vindicet, et Rome, posita feritate, Britannos 

Restituat, cogitque vetus prestare tributum 

Inde Britannorum, lactanti sevior ursa, 1670 

Invehitur populos, obstantes demetat ense, 

Regemque intrusum periinens intrudit in orcum. 



LIBER QCARTUS. Cl 

Hinc regni regimen sibi suscipit, opprimit omnes 

Sub pedibus Britones, qui, tacti felle doloris, 

Asclepiodotum decorant diademate regis ; 

Innumeraque acie procerum stipatus, in arma 

AUicit AUectum patriis diis sacrificantem. 

Londoniis audita novi collegia rcgis 

Admirans exit, infestaque arma relinquit. 

Ecce duo regni reges, unius ad instar 1680 

Fulminis, occurrunt. It tantus ad astra boatus 

Et fragor armorum, quales quantosque tumultus 

Collise nubes emisso fulmine reddunt. 

Piuribus occisis, hinc inde Quirina pudende 

Pars sua terga fuge committit; sed fugientem 

Turba fugat Britonum, gladiis pars magna Quiritum 

Occumbit cum rege suo ; pars vero superstcs, 

Gallo coliege defuncti regis adherens, 

Intrat Londonias; muros perimunt et arces. 

Asclepiodotus rex clausam circuit urbem, 1690 

Allectique necem, quesitum marte triumphum, 

Obsessos Lacios, ducibus populisque remotis 

Nunciat, utque sibi succurrant voce precatur 

Supplice. Demedeti, Deiri, Scoti, Venedoli, 

Et plures alii veniunt, ad bella vocati. 

Tot tantasque videns rex confluxisse catervas, 

Reddit eis grates, et talia verba profatur : 

,r veteris Priami proles, Brutique ncpotes, 

Este, precor, memores que sitis stirpe crcati. 

Libera nobiUfas genuit vos, condicione 1700 

Servitis misera : libertas vestra petatur 

Ex hac urbe, manus disrumpent vincula vestre 



62 • GESTA BEGOM BBITANNI£. 

Que vos innodant, obstantes stcrnite muros. " 

Plura loquturum probibcnt vocesque tubequc, 

Et clangor lituum. Totam velociter urbem 

Circueunt; jaciunt Romani piia, Britanni 

Tela; sagittarum nimbo fit nubilus aer. 

Nec magonelli desunt, nec macbina belli. 

Diversi generis mortem balista propinat; 

Talpa fodit muros, quos crebro verberat ictu, 1710 

Dissolvitque arces. Lacii nil proficientes, 

Jamque urbem captam, jam menia strata videntes, 

Ignorant quid eis sit agendum; denique poscunt 

Indigni veniam. Quam dum poscunt, Venedoti, 

Intrantes urbem, gladiis ultoribus omnes 

Obsessos perimunt, et in ampne cadavera jactant. 

Interea Cbristi laniante Diocletiano 
Membra, fere Petri navis submergitur infra 
Occeani claustrum, quam Lucius atque sequaces 
Ejus reddiderant in eorum tempore tutam. 1720 

Illius imperium cunctas quas insula sanctas 
Ecclesias habuit, subvertit Maxiinianus, 
Scripturasque sacras positas combussit in igne, 
Et totum regui clerum populumque fidelem 
Occidit; petit ipsa tamen pars dignior astra. 
Guttura suffocans, hominem non suffocat illum 
Qui viget internis. Paciuntur corpora penas, 
Nomina sanctorum vivunt in pace perhenni ; 
Cum quibus Albanus, Aaron et Julius, urbis 
Preclari cives Legionura, corpora ferro 1730 

Et celis animas reddentes, ense tyranni 
Supplicium passi, celesti pace fruuntur. 



LIBER QCABTUS. 63 

Inde Goel, cui clara duci Colocestria paret, 
Asclepiodotum commisso mente peremit, 
Assumpsitque sibi regni diadematis usum, 
[Letificat regis mors bec audita senatum] 
Et totum imperium. Constancius ergo senator 
Mittitur in Britones, ut jura resarciat urbi 
Perdita Romulee, sicut subjecerat ante 
Esperios Rome. Cujus narrante Goeli 1740 

Adventum fama, rex pugnaturus in ejus 
Se gerit occursum, non armis, sed pace; non vi, 
Sed pacis signo ; ramum virentis olive 
In dextra gestans, Romano subicit illum 
Imperio regnum. Sic pacis munere fretus, 
Uno mense regit; tandem mors dividit illum. 
Ossa premit tellus, petit ethera spes ejus. 
Defuncti patris Ilelene sanctissima proles, 
Unita, prestanti facie, prelata puellis 

Occidue plage, sapiens, facunda, chorusca 1750 

Artibus ingenuis, signata caractere Christi, 
Grata Deo servisque Dei, data gratia ministris 
Contulit altaris : hoc est que dicitur olim 
Invenisse crucera Domini, tradentibus illi 
Judeis. Judam qui factum noverat, illam 
Ducit in uxorem Constancius, et diadema 
Assumpsit regale simul, lustrisque duobus 
Rexit, et unius spacio non amplius anni 
De medio sublatus obit. Suus inclitus beres, 
Constantinus ei succedit, qui puer annis, 1760 

Mcnte senex, hostes enervat, ditat amicos. 
Pax secura viget, pacisque domestica jura; 



64 GESTA KEGCM BRITANM£. 

Predo, latro, fur illo regnanie quiescunt. 

Presidet imperio Maxencius, hostis amicis, 
In cives predo, siccarius in gcncrosos, 
In commune malus, pejor sibi, peximus illi 
Cui nichil occultum ; jus naturale per illum 
Et civile perit ; sua predia, tecta, laresque 
Aufert nobilium. Exhcredata juventus 
Ad Constantini fugit auxilium. Fugientem 1770 

Rex recipit, veneratur, amat, proponit amicis. 
Quamvis divicias melioraque predia primi 
Possideant, teneantquc gradus a rege secundos, 
Ipsa tamen patrii dulcedo cespitcs illos 
Tangit, et angit amor, ut dicant talia regi : 

" Inclite rex, cujus totum vulgata per orbem 
Pama volat, cui se totus subponcre mundus 
Expetit, imperium princeps detractat iniquus : 
Sicque vacat tibi sume vacans, tibi sumc voventcm 
Te dominum Romam, ncc beila movere necesse cst. 1780 

Gratus ades gratis, cape sceptrum quod tibi grates 
Ut capiatur agit; populo gratarc Quirino, 
Qui tibi gratatur, tibi mundi jura daturus. 
Uxores, pueros, fratrcs carosque parentes 
Restituas nobis. " Precibus devictus corum 
Romam adiens, illam sibi subjugat : hinc sibi mundi 
Primatum subicit, ct eodcm principe gaudet. 
Jamquc Johelinum, Mariura, fortcmquc Trahernum, 
Quorum neptis erat Helene sanctissima mater, 
Ipse senatores Romane fecerat urbis. 1790 

Interea Rome dum tota Britannia servit, 
Consilio procerum dux est Octavius usus 



LIBEtt QCARTCS. 65 

Tocius regni diademate. Roma Trahernum 

Desiinat huc, et tres legiones ad reprimendum 

Seviciam regis, et regnum restituendum 

Romano juri. Mira virtute Trahernus 

Insignis, Britones adit; urbes, opida, rura, 

Occupat, occurrit, properans Octavius illi. 

Prelia committunt, Romana fugata recedunt 

Agmina de campo, litus navesque requirunt. isoo 

Albanos adeunt, Albanica rurafdomosque 

Devastant. Tendit illuc Octavius, iliic 

Subcumbit, regnumque simul diademaque perdit. 

Norguegia admittit expulsum frigida regem, 

Et rex Hubertus ; sumit diadema Trahernus. 

Nec mora, depositi regis non fictus araicus, 

Securum perimit inopina cede Trahernum. 

Ad regni regimen rediens Octavius idem 

Est successoris successor, more novato. 

Excludit Lacios, cepit probitate vigere. l8io 

Tantas argenti massas coacervat et auri, 

Quod nullos metuens fit cunctis ipse timori. 

Denique confectus senio, disponere regno 

Et populo de rege volens, interrogat omnes 

Quem sibi preferri cupiant. Pars una nepotem 

Regis, Conanum, dignum diademate censent; 

Altera pars illum cui nupserit unica regis 

Filia, namque caret rex sexus prole virilis ; 

Cum dux Cornubie Caradocus Maximianum, 

Patre Johelino, Romana matre creatum, 1820 

Qui regale genus a stipite tangit utroque, 

Asserit utilius ad regni amplustre vocari. 



f>6 GESTA BEGCM BBITA1I1U£. 

Filius inde ducis Caradoci, corpore magnus, 

Mente tamen major, facundo maximus ore, 

Mauricius, nutu patris, Romam petit ; ipsum 

Demulcens verbis, adduxit Maximianum 

Ad regnum Britonum. Stipatus milite multo, 

Gallorum sibi sumit opes ; divesque recedens 

Applicat ad portum Hamonis, mordet harenas ; 

Anchora litus adit, illic tentoria tendit 1830 

Et reficit socios. Conani rumor ad aures 

Evolat, adventum referens alienigenarum. 

Congregat ergo duces regionis, rege jubente, 
Et regni proceres. Veniunt pugnare parati, 
Romanasque acies adeunt. Quos Maximianus 
Prospiciens, metuit quem numerumque virorum ; 
Seviciamque timens, dubitat sibi quid sit agendum, 
Cum sic Mauricius : " Non armis hic opus esse, 
Sed verbis video ; nec ad arma gerenda venimus ; 
Blandiciis, non mente, decet temptare Britannos. mo 

Dulcibus ergo ducem verbis, si precipis, utens, 
Aggrediar, cauteque animum sedabo ferocem. " 
Dixit, et assumit secum bis sex seniores, 
Pacifereque manu ramum pretendit olive. 
Agminibus gravi processu turba senilis 
Obviat armatis. Venerantes agmen inerme 
Armati, causeque vie, patrieque relato 
Nomine, credentes fictis sermonibus, illos 
Ante ducem statuunt, quem ficta voce salutant. 
Dux affatur eos : " Quis vos huc attulit error? 1850 

Aut que vos duxit demencia? Creditis istud 
Rege carere solum? non est sine preside prcsens 



LIBEB QUABTUS. G7 

Insula. Nos Rome submittere multis avare? " 

Sic ait, et yultus pretendit principe dignos. 

Nec mora, Mauricius suppressa silencia rumpens, 

Explicat hec paucis : " Nec abest facundia fictis. 

Regia progenies, Romanis Maximianus 

Parens principibus, partes pervenit ad istas 

Ut nostro regi mandatum narret eorum. 

Contra Conanus sic excipit : " Hunc ducis esse isgo 

Constat Castrensis ritum tot habere maniplos, 

Et non legati. Romaui fraude doloque, 

Cum nequeunt armis, didicerunt vincere semper. " 

Mauricius replicat : " Nulli dubitabile Gallos 

Suspectos Laciis a tempore Ccsaris esse 

Suspicor ; unde timens merito dux noster eorum 

Insidias, sccum socios, in pace quietos, 

In bello fortes, duxit. Nec debuit ire 

Tante fame vir inglorius ; adde quod ex quo 

Navibus egressi partes intravimus istas, 1870 

Nullis obfuimus, nullis molimur obesse. 

Dux igitur noster, vestro de sanguine natus, 

Pacificus veniens pacem, non prelia poscit. " 

Inductu procerum, quamvis invitus eundi, 

Ad regem dat iter Laciis Conanus, eosque 

Ducit Londonias. Caradoci Mauriciique 

Consilio, regisque assensu, Maximiano 

Filia regalis cum regno traditur uxor. 

Conanus turbatus ob id turbare laborat 

Regem cum regno ; ferro supponit et igni isso 

Oppida, rura, domos, cum rex incurrit in illum, 

Non minimam stragem faciens, paciensque vicissim. 



68 GESTA REGtJM BBIffAlf HI jE. 

Taadem candida pax celi descendit ab arce, 

Concordesque facit quos fecerat ambitus hostes. 

Inde suos rex quinque regens feliciter annis, 

Inmensas auri gazas cumulavit et eris : 

Unde superbivit. De regni partibus omnes 

Naves collegit omnes, armisque virisque 

Fortibus implevit; velisque tumentibus Euro, 

Venit ad Armoricam terram, quam tunc habitabat mo 

Gallica gens ; Minor est nunc dicta Britannia. Gallos 

Invadunt Britones, dux et ter quinque virorum 

Milia cesa jacent; Galli post prelia mulla 

Nudati propriis, fugiunt, aliena sequentes. 

Rex igitur, tot stagna videns, tot prata, tot ampnes, 

Tot saltus, tot agros, tot litora, tot nemorosa 

Robora, tot frutices, tot fontes, omnia laudat; 

Cernere delectat loca, Conanoque seorsum 

Ducto subridens inquit : " Beilo superata, 

Presens terra dabit nobis iter ad superandum 1900 

Gallorum fines. Tellus fecundior ista 

Nulla sub axe jacet, aut fortibus apcior istud. 

Istud trado tibi, regnumque te regente regetur. " 

Dux capud inclinat regi, gratesque rependit, 

Et fidum se jurat ei dum vivat uterque. 

Inde petit Redonim, quam jam custode carentem 

Intrat; nam cives, Britonum feritate relata, 

Terga fuge dederant. Sic hanc et cetera castra 

Urbesque et villas sine vi, sine lite, capescunt. 

Rex jubet occidi sexus quoscumque virilis 1910 

Dependant socii, conservarique puellas. 

Occisis Gallis, regionis tocius urbes 



LIBEE QUAKTUS. 69 

Et castella suis tradit servanda mauiplis. 

Ioterea Major mandante Britannia rege 

Centum milia plebanorum equitumqne decem tria 

Hilia mittit ad has partes cultore carentes, 

Ut tueantur eas, habitentque, regnentque, colentque. 

Rex igitur regnnm, popnlo pollere Britanno 

Gaudens, Armoricum Conano tradit, eumque 

Promovet in regem, nomenque novat regionis, 1920 

Respectuque Minor est dicta Britannia Magne. 

regnnm minime felix ! sanguine fuso 
Optentnm regale decns ! Conane, resina 
Hoc jns injustum. Prescriptio nulla tueri 
Te poterit, qnum dum vixeris, intus habebis 
Accnsatricem, que te tuosque nepotes 
Semper mordebit. Non debet predo reatum, 
Dnm tenet ablatum ? Res semper erit viciosa, 
Que venit ex rapto, dum raptam predo tenebit ; 
Predonisque heres, postquam rem novit ademptam, 1930 

In vitium succedit ei. Tecum tua proles 
Verget in interitum, penam luitura perhennem 
Dnm sic possideat jnncte res alienas. 
In sobolem peccata patrum de jure redundant. 
Dum soboles effrena patrum peccata sequatur, 
Quis putet intrusos Britones vei semen eorum 
In male quesitis cum pace quiescere terris? 
Eventus quis habere bonos se credat in illis 
Que male parta tenet? Meritis Deus eque rependit. 
Stirps homicidarum totis homicidaque votis 1940 

Perpatrare studens, repntat dispendia pacem. 
Cortinam cortina trahit, sanguisque cruorem. 



70 GESTA BEGUM BB1TAN1U£. 

Inconstans Britonum populus constanter in ipsa 

Mobilitate viget ; nunquam Ramissia virgo 

Mobiliore rota fertur quam spes ejus. 

regio ! tibi nunc rex presidet, ante ducatus 

Aut comitatus ejus; non regnum sive ducatus, 

Sed comitatus eris tu qui ducibus dominaris. 

Cum servis domino continget te dominari. 

Ecce dies venient quibus ad sua jura reducti, 1930 

Tristia~sub pcdibus Galli tua colla tenebunt. 



GESTORUM REGUM BRITANNLE 



LIBER QUINTUS. 



Incipit quintus liber. 

Quintus ad iraperium sublimat Maximianum. 
Regnum rege carens devastat barbarus hostis. 
Missus ab Armorica rex regnum salvat ab hoste. 
Contra jus regnat monachus, successit eidem 
Proditor. Armoricum fratres adeunt duo regem. 
Dux adit Engistus, quem suscipit. IUe triumphat, 
Castellum condit; regi sua filia nubit. 
Filius excludit patrem, perit ille veneno. 
Regnat item gcnitor, gener hunc incarcerat iile. iwo 

Condere castellum captat, frustraque laborat. 
A numeris vero collectis Maximianus 
Militibus cursu Gallos adit et sibi subdit, 
Germanosque cito Romanis inde minatur 
Prelia principibus; Romano nam duo presunt 
Imperio, quorum sunt nomina dissona metro. 
Marteque commisso fugit unus, et occidit alter. 

Interea Galli nimia feritate feruntur 
Contra Conanum ; Conanus mente feroci 
Armoricum regnum deffendit et effugat hostes; 1970 

Cumque carere suos uxoribus ipse videret, 
Regi Cornubie, cui tota Britannia Major 



72 GESTA REGUM BMTANNI£. 

Commissa est, scribens, Dyonoto mandat ut ipsc 

Armoricis nimphas generosas et mediocres 

Destinet uxores. Paret, classem parat, illam 

Implet virginibus, dat nautica carbasa vcntis, 

Litus ad Armoricum tendit. Contrarius Euro 

Missus ab Eoliis equor movet turbidus Auster. 

Obruit unda rates, pereunt cum classe puelle ; 

Pars tamen illarum, rabie rabiente procelle, 1980 

Fertur in hostiles, agmen miserabile, terras. 

Guanius has et Melga neci, vel forte pudendo 

Tradunt servicio ; qui toto corde faventes 

Principibus Laciis, fautores Maximiani 

Acriter infestant. Hiis Britannia Major 

Subcumbit, quam vires subtraxcrat illis 

Armoricos adiens jam pridem Maximianus. 

Qui jam Romano magna probitate subacto 

Presidet imperio ; sed postquam dira suorura 

Est audita lues, propriam vix sustinet iram. 1990 

Destinat ergo virum, dederat cui gracia nomcn, 

Ad Britonum fines, equitumque duas legiones. 

Collatis igitur armis, de finibus illis 

Excludunt hostes, et firma pace Britannos 

Letari faciunt. Pax est et piausus ubique. 

Idem legatus, post mortem Maximiani, 

In regno succedit ei, traclatque maligne 

Subjectura populura. Populus subtristis anhelat 

In mortem regis; tandcm cadit ense suorum. 

Guanius et Melga redeunt, urbesquc Britannas 2000 

Igne cremant, delere vacant lacrimabile regnum. 
Insula Romulee devote supplicat Urbi 



LIBEB QUINTUS. 73 

Ut sibi mitlat opem. Legionem Roma Britannis 

Mittit in auxilium. Lacii Britonumque cohortes 

Expellunt hostes cedes in terga gerentes. 

Inter et Albanos Deirosque labore stupendo 

Extendunt murum, facilis ne forte pateret 

Hostibus introitus regni. Romana recedit 

Et Romam repetit legio. Redit ante fugata 

Hostilis rabies, muro tenus omnia vastat. 201 

Rustica plebs Britonum murum defendere temptat ; 
Sed quia formido semper comitatnr agrestcs, 
Ascendendo pigri, defendendo pigriores, 
Cura possent telis hostes expellere, ponunt 
In sola sua terga. Fugant timor et tremor illos, 
Dcsperare probat; vultus pallere videres 
Et trcpidare manus, certa argumenta pavoris. 
Nec mora, terga fuge prebent, terreque cavernas 
Aut nemorum querunt latebras ; hostilia murum 
Agmina deiciunt, per mille foramina regnum 2020 

Incurrunt tutore carens ; furit ignis et ensis. 
Rura suis cum ruricolis, cum civibus urbes 
Una depereunt; nulli sua proficit etas. 
Lactentes matresque simul, juvenesque, senesque, 
Occumbunt gladio : nulli sua munera prosunt 
Ecclesie, clerura reverencia nulla tuetur. 
Agracius, consul Romanus, ferre recusat 
Auxilium positis in tanta strage Britannis. 

Cum Guizelinus, antistes Londoniensis, 
Transmeat Occeanum, regni petit Armoricani 2030 

Aldrogeum regem, qui regno presidet iUi, 
Quartus post primum Conanum ; suppUciterque 



74 GESTA BEGCM B1ITANNI£. 

Orat opem presul, regni rege carentis 

Suscipiat regimcn, quod barbarus occupat hostis. 

Aldrogeus sic inquit ei : " Nos undique Galli 

Assidue vexant. Nostrum deffendere regnum 

Sanius esse reor, dubio quam querere mente 

Per mare, per terras regnum quod possidet bostis ; 

Sed ne subjaceat iliud sine vindice regnum 

Barbarico juri, duo milia sume virorum, 2040 

Quos cum fratre meo Constantino tibi trado. " 

Presul agit grates, Constantinoque vocato 

Subridens inquit : " Salve, juvenisl tibi virtus 

Christi, qui superat, qui regnat et imperat, adsitl 

Ecce decus nostri, spes et defcnsio regni. " 

Nec mora, classe viris impleta, nauta repcnti 

Carbasa dat Zephiro ; litus Totonense repente 

Navigio tegitur. Egressi navibus hostes 

Impugnare parant, Britonum tamen ante vocato 

Qui superest populo. Conserto mente fugata, 2050 

Barbara gens dat terga fuge, regnumque relinquit. 

Undique conveniunt Britones, quos barbarus hostis 

Sparserat, et capiti Constantini diadema 

Regale imponunt. Uxor quoque traditur iili, 

Ex Romanorum generoso sanguine nata, 

Quam Guizelinus nutrierat. Huic oriuntur 

Tres pueri, quorum Comtans, Ambrosius, Uther 

Nomina sunt. Constans monachatur, patre jubente. 

Interea quidam Pictus, mucrone soluto, 
Iuterimit regem famulus nil tale timentem. 2060 

Conveniunt igitur proceres, igitur de substituendo 
Rege simul tractant, cum Vortigernus ad ipsum 



LIBEl QCINTUS. 75 

Constantem tendit monachum, mortemque parcntis 

Nunciat ejus ei, dicens : " Cur veste sub atra 

Hic latitas ? Regnum vacat, et succedere patri 

Te faciam, si forte, meis parere paratus 

Consiliis, augere vehYmea jura, tibique 

Sim propior cunctis, nostrum dum vivat uterque. " 

Sic fore constanter Constans promittit, idemque 

Promissum jurat. Monachali veste remota, 2070 

Induitur regale decus, vix dante Britanno 

Assensum populo ; regni diademate fulget, 

Quod Vortigernus, spreto moderamine juris, 

Illius imposuit capiti ; nam Londoniensis 

Presul, cujus erat hoc jus, decesserat. Alter 

Pontificum non audet eum diademate regis 

Insignire, quia monachus votumque professus 

In regem, contra votum, non debet inungi. 

puer inconstans, qui, falso nomine, Constans 
Diceris, ad claustrum redeas habitumque rcsumas, 2080 

Et sanctum votum teneas! Regalia demas 
Ornamenta tibi; nam te decet hyspida vestis, 
Non regale decus. Dicens Psalmista : " ovcte, " 
"Reddite continuo " dixit; nec te resilire 
A voto decuit, propria levitate reductum. 
Ecce dies instat quo te viciasse pigebit 
Sanctum propositum, dum te proponere regno 
Proditor intendit ; nam te deponere temptat. " 

Rex igitur Constans, quem non constantia mentis 
Erigit in regem, nec vires corporis ipsum *09Q 

Detractat, regni tocius habenas 
Dat Vortigerno, tantum sibi regis inani 



76 GESTA 1EGUH BHITANIU/E. 

Nomine servato ; sed et hoc amittere dignus. 

Traditor ergo videns monachalem simplicitatem 

In vultu regis, ad rcgni culmen anhelat; 

Sed prius argentum fisci regalis et aurum 

Abscondit sub clave sua, custodibus urbes 

Et regni castella suis committit operta. 

Fraude metum simulans, regi mentitur in ejus 

Regnum venturos tam Pictos quam Venedotes ; 2100 

Proditor ut satagat sic concepte prodicioni, 

Hiis verbis bibulas Constantis inebriat aures. 

" Rex illustris, ait, Picti tibi bella minantur, 
De quibus optato poteris gaudere triumpho. 
Pictorum auxiliis famulos tibi sume fideles 
Ex Pictis aliquos, qui fraudem fraude repellant. " 
Palliat ergo dolum fidei sub nube, vocatque 
Regis in auxilium centum Pictos famulosque, 
Et commensales ejus facit, hac tamen arce 
Ut quorum instabiles animos avidosque cruoris 2110 

Noverat, instimulet in regis fata clientes. 
Allicit inde leves diverso munere mentes 
Et sibi connectit, et eorum invitat amorem ; 
Potibus assiduis versutus inebriat illos. 
Ebria turba ducem commendans psallit et inquit : 
" Est Vortigernus dignus diademate, sceptro 
Dignus et imperio; Constans indignus honore. " 
Quadam nocte viros imbutos munere Bacchi 
Sic dux alloquitur, lacrimis super ora profusis : 
" Marcia gens, cujus probitas vulgata per orbem 2120 

Hostibus est terror, cujus nichil obviat ausis, 
Cui fas omne nephas, ad cujus nitor honorem, 



LIBEE QtJlNTCS. 77 

Cujus opes augere meum semper fuit estque 

Propositum, si forte meis fecunda facultas 

Par esset votis; sed ego quia sumptibus impar 

Est mea bursa meis, patriam famulosque relinquo. " 

Et simulans fletum, dicit : " Discedo, valete. " 

Tunc furor innatus, vino triplicatus et ira, 

Regis in interitum Pictos trahit ; arma capescunt ; 

Irrumpunt cameram, dicentes : " Proh pudorl inquit, 2130 

Occupat hic monachus regnum ; mendicat et ipse 

Dux Vortigernus, pocius diademate dignus. 

Rex miser occubat, regnet dux imperia. " Mitem 

Insontemque nocens occidit dextera regetn, 

Et caput abscisum regis (miserabile visu) 

Ad Vortigernum referunt; sed dux quia tristis, 

Quamvis leticia latitanti fluctuet intus, 

Lumina detergens, veluti lacrimancia, clamat : 

" Me miserum! quid id est? cur te manus impia nobis 

Eripuit Constans? Cives, accurrite; vinctos 2140 

Auctores sceleris adducite, fasce cruenta 

Colla cruentorum cicius resecate clientum, 

Quam male mors eadem rapit insontemque reosque. " 

Accusat pars una ducem, pars altera purgat 

De nece Constantis; constat tamen esse peremptum. 

Ne leto simili pereant, regis duo fratres 

Armorici regni regi mittuntur alendi 

Budicio, qui nutrit eos et tractat honeste. 

At Vortigernus, sumens sibi regis honorem, 
Sumit honoris honos, sumit cum cismate sceptrum ; 2150 

Nam Picti, Scoti, Venedoti Norguegicique 
Arma gerunt in eum, nec ab ipsis civibus ejus 



78 GESTl HEGUH BBITANNl£. 

Diligitur, patitur pressuras intus et cxtra. 
Interea plenas armisque virisque cuillas 
Cancia tres habuit; fratres Engistus et Horsus 
Omnibus hiis prcsunt. Rex Vorligeruus eorum 
Adventus causam, qui sint, patriamque requirit. 
Cui sic Engistus : " Germania patria nostra est, 
Cujus mos hic est, quem non tamen approbo ; cum sit 
Vel victu tenuis, vel multa gente gravata, sigo 

Sorte data, quem sors condempnat vel qua relegat, 
Vel tibi, vel cuique domino parere parati, 
Quos dux Mercurius partes perduxit ad istas. " 
Rex stupet, et vultus extollens nomine dicto 
Mercurii, querit legemque fidemque virorum. 
Respondens Engistus ait : " Nos numina celi, 
Cum Jove Junonem colimus, cum Pallade Martcm, 
Saturnumque senem, satyros, faunosque laresque, 
Innumerosque alios; preponimus omnibus illis 
Mercurium, qui nos et nostros dirigit actus. " 2170 

Rex ait Engisto : " Personas diligo vestras, 
Errorem vestramque fidem detestor et odi; 
Sed tamen aula patet mea vobis. Undique turbant 
Nos hostes : presens regnum defendite mecuin ; 
Et cum vestra meos virtus superaverit hostcs, 
Deliciis opibusque meis in pace fruemur. 
Si vos contigerit consortes esse laborum, 
Participes eritis, me judice, semper honorum. " 
Dixit, Saxonibus placet; hoc regique fidele 
Obsequium semper se jurant exhibituros. siso 

Nec mora, Pictorum ruit impetus, ensis et ignis 
Bacantur passim ; confestim ducit in hostes 



LIBEB QUIHTUS. 79 

Rex Britones cum Saxonibus. Dat terga pudcnde 
Barbara turba fuge ; fugienti Saxoues instant, 
Mille neci tradunt, et mille in vincula trudunt. 
Nec multum Britones hic desudare necesse est. 

Rex igitur victor grates impendit eisdem 
Per quos victa fugit, que victrix esse solebat, 
Hostilis rabies; vestes, cntennia, terras 
Donat eis; pociora datis se dona daturum 2190 

Pollicitat eis, si forti mente resistant 
Hostibus, et regnum victo tueantur ab hoste. 
Dum sibi rex in Saxonibus bene complacet, et dum 
Illorum vox pondus habet, sibi cuncta liccre 
Illicitumque nichil sperans Engistus, operta 
Fraude, sub optentu fidei seducere regem 
Molitur, dum dicit : " Tibi bella minantur 
Finitimi, nullumque latus tibi cessat ab hoste 
Auxilium Zephirus. Populum qui subjacet Artho 
Destinat huc Boreas, huc dirigit Auster Hybernos, 2200 

Et Dacos Eurus; odio quoque civibus csse 
Nos vestris constat nostris queremur ab horis 
Si placet auxilium. " — " Placet id mihi, " rex ait. Ille 
Preterea regi : " Rex illustrissime, dicit, 
Nos generosa ducum genuit regumque propago. 
Debueras igitur nobis dare castra vel urbes, 
Ut capiamur in hiis tutam post bella quietem. " 
Respondisse duci six rex perhibetur : " Avorum 
Lex alienigenis prohibet vetus opida nostro 
In regno tradi, quam nostri nunc quoque scrvant; 2210 

Nec satis exacta est nostre constancia mentis, 
Cum sit vestra fides fidei contraria nostre. " 



80 GESTl REGUM BRITANNI£. 

Dicit ; at Hengistus versutus sic ait illi : 

" Da saltem quantum terre percingere possitn 

Una corrigia. " Quantum petit impetrat ille, 

Unam corrigiam de toto tergore tauri 

Scindit, cingit ea montis sublime cacumcn ; 

Turrim condit ibi, cui nullo turbine belli 

Hostis obesse potest, defenditur arte situque. 

Montis corrigie castrum nunc usque vocatur. 2220 

Ecce viris plene, vento rapiente, carine 
Octodecim veniunt, quas jam Germania flava 
Miserat Engisto; cujus quoque filia Rowen 
Virgo venit, facie regni prelata puella. 
Dux igitur letus, nata sociisque receptis, 
Invitat regem, natam sociosque novumque 
Castrum visurum, veniens cum milite pauco. 
Omnia visa probat, miratur opusque locumque, 
Applauditque viris, et eis donaria donat. 
Cumque cibis esset et Bachi munere functus, 2330 

De thalamo prodit Engisti filia, vino 
Impleta cratera tenens, genibusque reflexis 
Inquit : " Laverd king wasail. " Rex igitur puelle 
Conspecta facie stupet, et calet ejus amore, 
Et querit quid id est et quid responderit illi. 
Interpres dicit : " Responde : Drinchail. " Ille 
" Drinchayl, " inquit ei. Primo potare pueliam 
Precipit. llla bibit primo, bibit iile secundo. 
Anglia deinde bibax hunc ritum servat, ut illi 
Qui potus potant cquales sic sibi dicant. 2240 

Rex ergo vise correptus amore puelle, 
Postulat hanc patrem ; fratris, patris et sapientum 



LIBBR QCINTCS. 81 

CoDsilio fretus, dilectam tradii amanti. 

Quid facis, o demens? quid id est, stultissime regum? 
Cur caperis facie? quid inis connubia coutra 
Preceptum Domini? nam mas et femina cultus 
Disparis esse pares divina lege vetantur. 
Non tibi, sed regno virgo Germanica nubit. 
Hoc tibi pro facto venient incommoda; perdes 
Infelicem animam, regno privaberis; in te 2250 

Insurgent cives, quibus hostes preposuisti. 
Te tua, quam spolias, solio proles spoliabit; 
Sceptrum quod cede cepisti, cede relinques. 

Exclusis ducibus igitur famulisque Britannis, 
Regis tota patet solis gentilibus aula. 
Excitat ira duces; juvenes tres, quos generarat 
Rex, irascuntur ob turpia facta parentis, 
Dicti Vortimerus, Pascencius et Catigernus. 
Interea Germanus adest et par Lnpus, almi 
Pontifices, quorum virtutibus acta coruscanl. sseo 

Hii revocant Britones ad Christi cognicionem, 
Quos jam deliros dederant contagia gentis, 
Atque error cujus datur esse Pelasgius auctor. 
Dum rex Engisto pareret in omnibus, illi 
Sic ait Engistus : " Video quod tota movetur 
Insula contra te, proles tua te quoque vexat. 
Si simul huc veniet frater meus Octa, meoque 
Pratre satus cui nomen Abissa, viri sapientes, 
In bello fortes, qui, si preceperis, omnes 
Occius excludent hostes de finibus istis. " 2270 

Rex ait : " Huc veniant. " Veniunt Cheldricus, Abissa 
Octaque, qui plenas armata gente carinas 

6 



82 GESTA EEGUM DiUTAHIU^. 

Adducunt secum. Rex letus suscipit illos 
Et donat donis, quorum virtute triumphos 
Optinet innumeros. Engistus semper eorum 
Augmentat numernm. Que cum videre Britanni, 
Saxonice gentis metuentes prodicionem, 
Regi sic aiunt, oculis prodentibus iram : 

" rex! mirandum est te conjunxisse puellam 
Sic tibi gentilem. Nulla est convencio Christi ^go 

Ad Belyal ; multo magis est mirabile regni 
Te dare frena tui populo sine lege regenda. 
Te regni expertem gens reddere nititur exlex. 
Saxones amoveas, qui te deponere temptant. " 
Rex tamcn hoc fieri renuit; communiter illum 
Destituunt Britones ; proceres, plebs, cleru3 adherent 
Vortimero, patrisque sui diadema relicti 
Imponunt ejus capiti : novus ergo vocatus 
Rex exercitibus, exleges ferlur in hostes. 
Nil ibi Hercurius, nil prodest Jupiter aut Mars; 2990 

Christus vincit, Christus regnat et imperat illic. 
Terga dat Engistus minima cum parte suorum, 
Et vix evadens cum paucis navibus exit 
De regno ; generoque suo nataque sua relictis, 
Saxoniam repetit, nil dignum laude reportans. 

Yortimerus vcro, postquam victoria tanta 
Cessit ei, dispersit opes; dat larga maniplis 
Dona suis; urbes, villas, castella, domosque 
Illis restituit, quibus has subtraxerat ante 
Eftera gcns, Christique iidem preceptaque servat. 2300 

Dum bene disponit regno, dum regnat ubique 
Pax et amor, dum fur nusquam, dum predo quiescit, 



LlBEIl QtJINTCS. 83 

Humani geueris hostis, quem cuncta molestant 

Qne rectc fiunt, regis prejudicat annis; 

Instinctu cujus miscens aconita noverca, 

Piringi tradit famulo, famulusque propinat 

Mla suo domino. Dominus mortale venenum 

Assnmit, potatque suam cum nectare mortem. 

Cum fore vicinam mortem sibi sentit, amicos 

Convocat et socios ; large dispergit in omnes 2310 

Quas cumularat opes; raonet illos ut bene pugnent 

Pro patria, ponantque suum supcr ardua montis 

Culmina sarcophagum, fabricatum ex ere micanti, 

Hic ubi Saxonibus portus suus esse solebat. 

Dicit enim : w Si forte meam Germanica tumbam 

Agmina prospicient, prebencia terga recedent. " 

At Trinovantum tamen est tumulatus in urbe. 

Inde sibi natoque pater succedit, honoris 
Ordine turbato. Regem regina precatur 
Ut revocet socerum. Revocat, prohibetque venire 4320 

Agmina cum socero, Britonum ne suscitat iram, 
Si plures ducat socios ; tamen ille, parata 
Classe, armatorum ter centum miiia ducit. 
Arma movent Britones ; fallax regina parenti 
Iiitimat hoc, regem et proceres sub tegmine pacis 
Prodere molitur. Engistus nunciat illis, 
Dicens : w Non nos bella juvant, non arma movemus 
In vestrum regnum. Pacem, non prelia, posco. 
Ne formideiis classem numerumque virorum : 
Vivere Vortimerum credcntes, arma timentes 4330 

Ejus, ut experti, nos tot tantasque catervas 
Duxiraus, ut qui nos bello superaverat ante, 



84 GESTA HEGUll BRITANNl£. 

Ulum possemus versa vice reddere victum ; 
Sed quia dii nostri nobis sine cede triumphum 
Sunt dare dignati, non est opus agmine tanto. 
In patriam, nisi quot regi retinere placebit, 
Dirigimus socios; vel si rex jusserit, omnes, 
Si placet, assignet nobis, tempusque locumque, 
Ut tractaturi de pacis federe, pulsa 

Suspicione doli, bene conveniamus inermes. " 2340 

Prima dies mensis majorura nomine dicti 
Assignatur eis, certusque locus ; venit illuc 
Sediciosa cohors, cultros sub crure recondens, 
Et Britones veniunt, minime gens crudelitatis. 
Dum de comuni tractarent utilitate, 
Engistus sociis dat signum prodicionis. 
Protinus, extractis cultris, gens perfida Christi 
Impedit incantos nullo discrimine servos. 
Pars tamen illorum, percepta sedicione, 
Fustibus et saxis toto conamine missis, 2350 

Nonnullos perimit. Consul fortissimus Eldon 
Claudiocestrensis, tigno quod gestat honustns, 
Quecumque attingit, confractum in Tartara trudit. 
Huic humerum, illi crus, latus huic, caput obruit illi; 
Sed quia perfida gens numero precellit et armis, 
Diffugiunt sparsi per devia rura Britanni. 
Quos vel mors vel plaga sinit, victoria plaudet 
Saxonibus; regemque tenent servantque ligatum, 
Donec reddat eis urbes et opida regni. 
Hostibus ille suis, quamvis invitus, obedit; 2360 

Tradit eis omnes regni, cum turribus, urbes. 
Cum nonnullum muri munimen habere 



LIBEJ& QUINTUS. 85 

Se rex conspiceret, nimie non iinperat ire. 

Consulit ergo magos regni quis competat illi 

In regione locus, ut in illo construat urbem. 

" Mons, aiunt, Herir tibi congruit, ut tibi muros 

Edifices illic et turrim nubibus equam. " 

Id placet, et missis legatis congregat omnes 

Artifices regni. Murus fundatur, et ecce, 

Res horrenda nimis, quicquid lucente lucerna 2370 

Phebi fundatur, Phebes confunditur hora; 

Molesque absortas tellus abscondit in alvo, 

Et nichil apparet de precedente labore. 

Adveniente die mullis labor ille diebus 

Apparet cassus : ideo stupet, occupat omues 

Artifices operum. Tum rex responsa magorum 

Exquirit, dicens : " Mihi, vos quos cura laborque 

Mundi sollicitat, exponite quid sit agendum, 

Ut presens consistat opus quod sorbet abyssus. " 

Respondent murum consistere posse, cruore 2380 

Aspersum parvi geniti sine semine patris. 

Rex jubet exquiri per regni climata, si quis 

Talis haberetur. Missi dum forte redirent 

Ad regem tristes invento nemine tali, 

Ad quamdam veniunt urbem, lassique sedcntes 

Conspiciunt parvos ludentes insimul, uuus 

Quorum Merlinus, et Dinabucius alter, 

Dicitur. Inter eos, dum ludunt, rixa movetur. 

Dicit Merlino sic Dinabucius : " Ut quid 

Contendis mecum, cum sis me nobilitato 2390 

Inferior? nam sum genitus de semine regum. 

Tu vero quis nescitur sis. Cum tibi nullus 



86 GESTA BEGUU MIITAN1U£. 

Extiterit gcuitor, dispar discordia nostra cst. " 

Qui missi fuerant, animis letantibus, aures 

Hiis adhibent verbis, dicuntque : " Qui est puer iste 

Qui sine patre satus fertur, res mira relatu? " 

Astantes aiunt : " Nullus pater extitit illi. 

Filia Demecie regis, que sub monachali 

Veste latet, coitus maris expers edidit illum. " 

Inde adeunt urbis prefectum, jussaque regis 2400 

Exponunt illi. Prefectus tradit eisdem 

Merlinum cum matre sua, quos protinus illi 

Ad vultum regis referunt. Rex ergo puelie 

Vultum conspiciens, ex ipso percipit illain 

Ortam nobilibus; querit quo filius ejus 

Patre satus fuerit. Respondet : w Vivere caste, 

Virginibus sociata sacris, a virgine cepi. 

Interea, thalamis clausis portisque seratis, 

Quidam sub specie juvenis, pulcherrimus ore, 

In cunctis placidus, coram me stare solebat, 2410 

Et repetita michi dare basia, deinde jocose 

Luctari mecum, cujus michi lucta placebat. 

Victa, nec invite subcumbens vim paciebar; 

Sed gratam passe violate non violatam 

Inde recedebat, tenues dilapsus in auras, 

More reversurus solito, sed tardus amanti. 

Aut hec causa mei partus fuit, aut sine causa. 

Hunc peperi parvum, meus est, ignoro parentem. " 

Dixcrat. Inde magos rcx consulit et sapientes, 

Qui de naturis rcrum discernere norunt. 2420 

E quibus unus adcst Magancius, omuibus illis 

Doctior; alloquilur hunc rex, et qucrit an illud . 



LIBER QUINTUS. 87 

Quod narrat mater parvi, natura creatrix 
Permittit fieri. Cui sic Magancius inquit : 
" Luna subest soli, distantque loco. Locus illc 
Demouibus datus est, qui, sumpta sepc virili 
Forma, decipiunt fatuas, gravidantque puellas. 
Uujus forte fuit parvi patcr incubo talis. " 



GESTORUM REGUM BRITANNLE 



LIBER SEXTUS. 



Fncipit sextus liber. 

Scxtus ab augurio Merlini cepit. Inungit 

Aurelium, regem comburit; dilauiatur 2430 

Eogistus. Parcit rex Octe, ditat amicos 

Et novat ecclcsias. Spoliatur Hybernia saxis. 

Rex sollempnizat; sumit Pascencius arma. 

Rex perit; Uther ei succedit, vincit; in illurn 

Octa movet bellum ; superatur Cornubiensis. 

Nupta ducis regi datur uxor; nascitur inde 

Arturus, languensque diu rex fertur in hostes. 

In feretro superat, sumpto perit inde veneno. 

Omnia Merlinus inteota colligit aure, 
Indignansque rogat : " Cur, rex, huc usque vcnire 2440 

Me matremque meam, distractos more reorum, 
Impie jussisti? Non sum tractandus inique. " 
Rex ait : " Effusus sanguis tuus, ut mihi docti 
Asseruere magi, murum, qui nescio quare 
Stare nequit, stabili faciet consistere fundo. " 
Cui puer arridens : " Meudaces esse probabo 
Fallaccsque magos. Veniant te precipiente. " 
Dixit, et ecce magi veniunt, quos cana senectus 



90 GESTA BEGDM BMTAN IU£. 

Longaque barba fucit et verba diserta verendos. 

Quos puer ut vidit, insultans sic ait illis : mo 

" quorum niens est incautos fallere! quorum 

Vita nociva, quibus prebent mendacia victum! 

Quid muro preferre potest, ut sistcre possit, 

Sanguinis humani diffusio? Non bene nostis 

Quid fundamento subsit, quod dissipet illud? 

Sub fundamento stagnum latet : eObdiatur 

Terra, patebit aqua. " Foditur, stagnum patet : illud 

Impediebat opus, nec murum stare sinebat. 

IUe magos iterum temptat, dicitquc : " Magistri, 

Dicite perfidie sub stagno quid latet ipso. " 2i6o 

Erubuere magi, nec ad hoc certum potuere 

Kcddere responsum ; cum sic Ambrosius inquit : 

" Sub stagno presente latent duo concava saxa, 

In quibus abdita sunt duo corpora magna. " 

In rivos aqua dividitur, duo saxa videri 

Incipiunt; saxis avulsis, inde coloris 

Diversi, visu res admiranda, dracones 

Exiliunt, stagnumque petunt, bellumque minantur 

Ambo sibi, quorum rubus unus, candidus alter. 

Dirum committunt certamen, hanelitus ignem 2470 

Evomit amborum; tandem rubus effugat album. 

Converso rubeo, versa vice terga dat albus. 

Rex igitur, postquam stupefacto pectore bellum 

Vidit inauditum, dixit : " Merline, stupendum 

Quid tibi significet presens mihi pande duellum, " 

Ille silet, totusque tremit dum spirituales 

Concipit afflatus, lacrimisque rigantibus ora 

Conqueritur vates : " Serpens tibive rubus, inquit, 



LIBEA QCINTIS. 91 

Eece tuas caveas, expulso te, tenet albus. 

Presignat Britones rubeus draco, Saxones albus, 2i80 

Quos conjunxisti, quibus in se tela dedisti. 

In rubeum niveus convertet prelia, montes 

Vallibus equabit, fedabit sanguine rura, 

Diruet ecclesias, cultores ecclesiarum 

Interimet, Christi nomen deiere studebit, 

Donec fulmineus, obliquo dente timendus, 

Cornubiensis aper, rictu spumante feretur 

In niveum; sternet niveum, cedetque flagellis. 

Ule caput nivei pede contcret, iiie rubenti 

Restituet stagnum; subjectus serviet ipsi 2ioo 

Occeauus, subdet sibi Gallica regna. Timebit 

Hunc Romanus apex, anceps erit exitus ejus. 

In popuUs celebris erit, et narrantibus cjus 

Actus causa cibi, cujus preconia fine 

Nullo claudentur, quem semper viverc crcdet 

Simplex posteritas, quamvis natura repugnet. " 

Postquam Merlinus hec pluraque vaticinavit, 

Quorum difficile est seriem committere metro, 

Etas narrantis et verba obscura propbete 

Mirari faciunt regem regisque sodales ; 2500 

Cum sic alloquitur rex iUum : " Nescio quis te 

Spes instigat ventura evolvere fata, 

Sive malo sis, sive bono spiramine plenus. " 

Sic respondet ei MerUnus : " Si potes, ignem 

Effuge natorum Constantini. Duo fratres 

De portu ducunt classem, litusque relinquuut 

Armoricum ; ventis jam vela per equora pandunt, 

Jam litus Totonense tcnent, jam Saxones armis 



92 GESTA REGCK OfilTAKiM£. 

Invadunt, subeuntque sibi; jam vindice flamma 

Ureris inclusus in turri. Fratris eorum 2510 

Te cruor accusat fusus, te conciliante. 

Ve tibi, rex, quem nullum latus est tibi tutum ! 

In te concurrunt hinc fratres, Saxones inde 

Occidet Engistus, dabitur diadema patrinum 

Aurelio ; pacem populo dabit, ecclesiarum 

Restituet dampnum, sumpto regnare veneno 

Desinet. Uther ei succedet, qui morietur 

Fratris consimili leto ; sed prodicionum 

Auctores digna multabit morte scelestos 

Cornubiensis aper. " Soli cedentibus astris, 2520 

Crastiua lux oritur, cum fratribus Armoricani 

Jam litus Totonense tegunt. Jam rumor adesse 

Pupplicat Armoricos ; Britones quos sparserat hostis 

Conveniunt, dominosque suos civesque videntes, 

Iltis se sociant; decorant diademate regni 

Aurelium. Decoratus eo, jam mente feroci 

Fertur in Engistum ; tamen eligit ante peremptum 

Ulcisci fratrem. Collectis ergo catervis, 

In Vortigernum rapitur, qui nomine regis 

Territus audito fugit ad castrum Geneorum. 2530 

Quem rex insequitur, inclusumque obsidet igni. 

Concremat obsessum ; quamvis consumptus in igne 

Proditor expiret, infamia prodicionis 

Extat adbuc, quam non flammarum incendia delent. 

Quod simul attonitas Engisti perculit aures : 
Aurelium, Christi famulum, pietatis amicum, 
Cultorem fidei, custodem religionum, 
Pacis amatorem, casti rectique magistrum, 



LIBER SEXTCS. 93 

Nestora consilio, sed viribus Ilectora, sevum 

Hectoris aspectu, membrorum lege gigantem, 2540 

Agnum simpUcibus, mansuetum mitibus, hostem 

Hostibus, attonitus populus gentilis obhorret. 

Collectis igitur sexus utriusque catervis, 

Jam querens loca tuta sibi, communiter Humbrum 

Transmeat effera gens, urbes ac menia munit. 

Ex aquilonali plaga Dacos, Venedotes 

Congregat et Scotos. Veniunt ad bella caterve 

Diversi cultus, varie collegia lingue. 

Aurelius vero sequitur vestigia gentis 

Pagane fugientis eum ; qui dum regionis 2550 

Ecclesias, urbes et menia diruta mestus 

Cerneret, exclamat dicens : " Rex Christe, triumphum 

Si mihi contuleris, devictis hostibus, omnes 

Ecclesias reparabo tuas, quas barbarus hostis 

Diruit, et larga dotabo dote refectas. " 

At simul Engistus regem prope novit adesse, 

Disponens socios in turmas, obviat illi. 

Campus erat, Beli de nomine nomen adeptus : 

lituc Engislus socios deducere furtim 

Nititur, ut Britones ineat non premeditatos. 2560 

Qood tamen Aurelium minime latet, ocius ergo 

Anticipat campum, statuitque ex ordine turmas, 

Dum veniunt hostes; quos cum prope inspicit, inquit : 

" socii, quorum virtus mihi cognita, quorum 

Non dubitata fides, quorum constancia certa est, 

Vincite jam victos, captos vincite, vel ense 

Vindice dejectos mature tradite morti. 

Ne formidetis numerum viresque virorum, 



di GESTA ttEGBM BHTTANNI£. 

Quas in casira trahit injusta occasio belli. 
Vos pia causa movet patriam deffendere vestram. 2570 

Illos Mercurius fallit, nos Christus ab hoste 
Protegit. In Christo tantum spem ponite vesfram. " 
Dixit, et ille suos cuneos precedit, et ire 
Non jubet, immo sequi. Regem devota scquuntur 
Agmina, nullus abit trepitanti corde retrorsum. 
£ contra pagana cohors, quam ducit in arma 
Dux Engistus, adest, Britonum sitibunda cruoris. 
Quam dux dispositis turmis ex ordine bello, 
Excit at, et dicit : " generosa deorum, 
Robusti juvenes, quibus idola nostra triumphum 2580 

Prestant continuum, votis deposcite bellum! 
Ecce greges Britonum, cum paucis Armoricanis, 
Quos innata trahit stolide vesania mentis 
In bellum, votis, etsi non prece, precantur 
Ut capiamus eos ; minima est laus ipsa triumphi 
Hic ubi semimares bello superamus. " Et ecce 
Occurrunt acies, ad missi fulminis instar. 
Tunc clangor lituum, voces, hynitus equorum, 
Armorumque fragor impellunt aera tanto 
Concussu, quantus fieret si machina rerum 2590 

In Chaos antiquum rueret compage soluta. 
Atropos occat ibi tot forcia fila sororum, 
Quot messes messor defalcat falce recurva. 
Aurelius vero gladio ductore per hostes 
Ducit iter, sternitque viros, sternnntque Britanni ; 
Sternunt Armorici, sternit fortissimus Eldon ; 
Sed rccolcns tempus antique prodicionis, 
Tendit in Engistum, quem prospicit ense furentem 



LIBEB SEXTC?. 95 

ln Britones. Sed cum paganos ccdere rcgi 

Cerneret Engistus, lacerato flebile bellum 2600 

Agmine destituit, vicinaque menia castri 

Conani festinus adit; non est tamen ausus 

Cum tot militibus castri se credere muro, 

Ne rex qui sequitur, qui plurima vincula victis 

Mancipit aut perimit, obsessum dedicioni 

Cogat, et ignavus leto rooriatur inerti. 

Pulchrius esse putat mortem pugnando subire, 

Quam fame depressum vitam veniamque precari. 

Dispositis igitur turmis, prope menia regem 

Expectans, inquit : " Fortissima stirps supcrorum, 21,10 

State, precor, mecum, mentesque resumite vesiras. 

Dii nostri, qui nos superari sustinuerunt, 

Jam vigilant, jam stant pro nobis ; jam pudet illos, 

Dum superareraur, sompni gravitate teneri. 

In manibus nostris dant hostes. Christus eornm 

Jam dormit : vincamus eos dum dormiat ille. " 

Rex igitur cernens positas ex ordine turmas, 

Ponit et ipse suas, et eas hortatur, et inquit : 

" Gloria sit Patri, Nato sit gloria, Sancto 

Gioria Spiritui, qui nostros tradidit hostes 2020 

In manibus nostris. Desperant longius ire, 

Lassati nequeunt, nimio sudore soluti. 

Nemine eos pulsante, cadunt sine cedc cadentes. 

Cedite semineces, gladiis dissolvite nodos : 

Servicii minimus labor hic et maxima merces. " 

Dixcrat, appropiant acies sibi ; grandine plura 

Tela hinc inde volant, post tela venitur ad enses. 

Ense liquet cui laudis bonor, cui dextera fortis, 






96 CESTA BEGUM BEITASNIjK. 

Regnum cui mens cst acquirerc sive tueri. 

Mutua dampna sui patitur pars utraque passim, aeSo 

Cesaque vel cedens pars omnis cedere cedi 

Turpe putat, cedique priusquam cedere gaudet. 

Rex facit ense viam, fortem fortissimus Eldon 

Impetit Engistum; parili virtute resistit 

Dux Engistus ei : quis eorum forcior aut quis 

Sit major dubium est. Crebros dant ensibus ictus, 

Compulsusque graves; sed stans immotus uterquc, 

Cum pare par constat; sed adhuc non est bene certa 

Quis cedat vel quis excedat. Permicat ignis 

Ex collisura gladiorum. Pallada, Martem, 2640 

Cum Junone Jovem, Saturnum Mercuriumque 

Invocat Engistus; Christo se deputat Eldon; 

Sed nequc Christus adhuc isti, nec muta triumpha 

Idola dant illi. Dubio victoria pendet, 

Donec Cornubie dux se Gorlosius illam 

Transtulit ad partem, stipatus milite multo. 

Quo viso, virtus Eldonis crescit, et ipsum 

Abstrahit Engistum, dcxtra nasale capescens 

Cassidis ipsius, victumque per agmina ducit. 

Saxones Engistum vinctum captumque videntes, 2650 

Attoniti fugiunt; fugientes Armoricorum 

Agmen equestre sequens non cessat sternere, donec 

Aurelio cedit victoria. Victor ad urbem 

Conani tendit, et eam capit. Hinc sepeliri 

Precipit occisos, curari vulnera, lassa 

Membra quiete frui, discerni quis cruciatus 

Engistum maneat ; cum sic vir religiosus, 

Eldonis frater, Eldonis episcopus, inquit : 



LIBER SEXTUS. 97 

" si forte virum mendacem, sediciosum, 

Sacrilegum, furem, vellent absolvcre, ducti 2660 

Injusta pietate duces, examine nullo, 

Ipse meis manibus membratim dilaniabo 

Injustum juste, Samuelis more prophete, 

Qui cum cepisset Agaz, captumque ligasset, 

Extra castra trahens membratim dilaniavit. " 

Omnibns ista placet sententia presulis : Eldon 

Extra castra trahens Engistum, demetit ejus 

Ense caput. Corpus sepelitur more suorum. 

Filius Engisti de bello fugerat Octa. 
Eboracum veniens, rex obsidet ocius Octam. 2670 

Ille videns urbem non posse resistere regi, 
Egreditur, regemque petit, manibusque cathenam 
Sablonemque gerens in vertice, sic ait illi : 
" Dii pereant nostri, valeat Deus Israel, ille 
Regnet in eternum; vitam veniamque petentes, 
Rex, tibi subicimus, serva servire volentes. " 
Dixit, et exurgens Eldonis episcopus inquit : 
" Cum Gabaonite submissa fronte venirent 
Ad populum Domini, vitam veniamque tulerunt. 
Nos vero, qui propicio gens dedita Christo t68o 

Et devota sumus, pocius miseris misereri 
Supplicibusque decet. " Miserans miseratur eorum 
Aurelius ; certa regionis pars habitanda 
Assignatur eis, immundis proxima Scotis. 
Devictis igitur rex hostibus, Eboracenses 
Ecclesias refici necnon et Londonienses 
Vicinasque jubet, demolirique deorum 
Templa ; novas condit leges, renovatque vetustas ; 



98 GESTA RKCCM BBITANIIIA. 

Judiciam cum justicia rectumque fidemque 
Servat, et enervat contraria. Predo quiescit, 2690 

Fur cessat, vis nulla rapit, pax regnat amorque. 
Opida, rura, domos, urbes cum menibus altis, 
Exheredatis reddit, quos efferus hostis 
Exheredarat. Plagas herede carentes 
Illis assignat bene qui meruere maniplis, 
Ne quid inexpertum desolatumque relinquat 
Eradicando vicia, et plantando bonorum 
Radices operum. Regionis circuit urbes, 
Wintoniamque venit; Eldonus episcopus ipsum 
Ad montem -ducit, ubi proditor ille Britannos 2700 

Engistus proceres cultris jugulaverat olim. 
Conspectis igitur tumulis, suspiria ducit 
Pectoris ex imo, lacrimisque fluentibus inquit : 
" procerum generosa cohors! digna perhenni 
Extolli laudum titulo ! tua mors preciosa 
Est in conspectu Domini. Tua vile sepulchrum 
Ossa tegit, meliorque tui pars fulget in astris. 
Si mea forte meis votis suffecerit etas, 
Hunc ego perpetuo montem venerabor honore, 
In quo cesa jaces pro libertate tuenda. " 2710 

Dixit, et artifices de regni partibus omnes 
Congregat, ingeniisque suis velocius uti 
Ut felix et perpes opus dignumque relatu 
Edificent in honore patrum. Dubitant aiuntque 
Artifices, quis posset opus fabricare perhenne, 
Preter eum qui cuncta suo produxit adesse 
Ingenio, qui congeriem divisit et inde 
Omne quod est, quod erit et quod fuit, ordine sumpsit ; 



LIBEB SEXTUS. 99 

Cum Legionensis Tremorinus episcopus inquit : 

" Merlinum vatem, cui fas est scire futura, 2780 

Consule ; consultus tibi consulet. Utere docti, 

Rex bone, consilio vatis. " Rex ergo prophetam 

Presentem presens affatus, sic ait illi : 

" Tu cui nosce datur abscondita, vaticinare 

Casus venturos. " Cui vates : " Spiritus ille 

Qui vates ventura docet, non est sine causa 

Alliciendus, ait, nec frustra fata revelat. " 

— " Dic saltem, Merline, mihi quis posset honore 

Perpetuo proceres extollere, corpora quorum 

Pro patria bene cesa jacent in montibus istis. " 2730 

Cui sic respondet Merlinus : " Hibernia servat 

Inmensos lapides, quos adduxere gigantes 

Ex Aflfris olim, positos ex ordine, quorum 

Circumstans series est dicta Corea gygantum. 

IUos huc adduc, et eos hic stare jubeto 

Sicut stant illic, et sic que queris habebis. " 

Hiis rex auditis ridet, dicitque prophete : 

" Tam magnos lapides de tam regione remota 

Huc impossibile est afferri posse, nec iUis 

Saxa mei regni precii reor esse minoris. " 2740 

Cui Merlinus ait : " Non est ita; maxima virtus 

Est in eis. Cum terrigene langore gravatos 

Se fore sentirent, Umphis ea saxa gravabant ; 

Limphas servabant, et eis sua membra rigabant, 

Sanaque reddebant. Hec saxa nec arte nec astu 

Ingenii, nec vi tolU, sed carmine possunt. " 

Protinus Aurelius Uthri ter quinque virorum 

Milia committit, et eos vatemque disertum 



100 GESTA BEGCM BRITANNIJE. 

Destinat armatos, vento rapieute carinas 

Ad regni litus in quo stat dicta Corea. 2750 

Rex Gillominus, qui regno presidet illi, 

Adventum Britonura, fama referente relatu, 

Quid querant querit. " Lapides afferre gygantum 

Ad regem nostrum, vel te nolente venimus, " 

Dicunt. Rex respondet eis : " Cognomine Bruti 

Et re sunt Britones, quos propria vita molestat, 

Dum nostros lapides nobis auferre laborant, 

Ac si non habeat meliora Britannia saxa. 

Haut impune ferent. " Tunc congregat armipotentes 

Tocius regni, Britonesque invadit, et iilum 2760 

Invadunt Britones; conserto marte fugatur 

Rex cum gente sua, multis tamen ante peremptis. 

Inde gyganteam cursu veloce Coream 

Turba petit Britonum, quos sic temptando propheta 

Alloquitur, dicens : " Juvenes, prosternite moles 

Astantes lapidum, regique per equora ferte. " 

Restibus et sudibus et nisibus omnibus unum 

Infestant lapidem; sed stans inmotus, eorum 

Vires nil prodesse probat. Sudore soluti 

Infecto cessant, annullatoque labore. 2770 

Tunc ridens Merlinus ait : " Discedite, segnes. " 

Discedunt, dicit vates sine murmure carmen. 

Quo dicto, sociis inquit : " Deponite saxa. " 

Deponunt sine vi, ducuntque ad littora ducta ; 

Navibus imponunt, dant vento lintea, regi 

Presentant lapides, gaudet presentibus ; omnes 

Regni pontifices, abbates, archilevitas 

Convocat et proceres, Pentecostenque diebus 



* • 

• « » 



LIBER SEXTFS. 101 

Continuis celebrans tribus, imponit diadema 

More suo capiti. Regis patet omnibus aula, 2780 

Quam non ornat ebur, quam non testudo decorat, 

Sed nemus et frondes; quis enim tot milia cleri 

Agmina, tot procerum, tot vulgi, tot mulierum, 

Inclusisse simul aula potuisset in una? 

Eboracensis apex vacat archipresule, necnon 

Et Legionensis. Sampson datur Eboracensi, 

Et Legionensi Dubricius, ambo beati 

Pontifices, quos vita probat, moresque perornant. 

Hinc jussu regis Merlinus saxa Coree 

Ad montem procerum transfert, et collocat illic 3790 

Ordine quo quondam stabant in monte Kilaro. 

Post Vortigerni mortem Pascencius, ejus 
Filius, Aurelium dispersis fugerat alis, 
Quem male dejectum Germania flava recepit. 
Inde recollectos audacter ducit in ipsum 
Saxones Aurelium ; sed eos de finibus ejus 
Fortiter excludit. Dant ventis vela fagata, 
Ut repetant patriam ; sed eos contrarius Austro 
In Gillomini regnum rapit invidus Eurus. 
Ad regis vultum veniunt, ejusque precantur ssoo 

Auxilium contra regis fera castra Britanni. 
IUe memor probri proprii, lapidumque Coree, 
Fedus init cum Saxonibus, regnique phalanges 
Ducit in AureUum, loca proxima subicit igni. 

Cujus fama rei postquam pervenit ad Uthrem, 
Congregat electos Britonum; nam febre gravatus, 
Wintonie jacet Aurelius, cujus dolor hosti 
Dat spem vincendi. Largo corruptus Eosa, 



• . - • 



• 



* I 



102 GESTA BEGUM BBITANMjE. 

Munere se phisicum fingit, doctusque Britannum 
Eloquium ; monacfaique nigro velatus amictu, «8io 

Wintoniam tendit, et pissidas innumerasque 
Radicum species exponens, suscipit egri 
Curam. Nec curat morbum, sed currit in ejus 
Mortem; nam mixtum cum duci melle venenum 
Porrigit egroto. Porrectum suscipit eger, 
Susceptum mortis potum cum nectare potat. 
Inde fugit phisicus ; conditur more suorum, 
Conditus in tumulo rex est sub monte Coree. 
Ecce novum sidus, cunctis fulgencius astris 
Mirandumque magis, in eadem nocte coruscat; 2820 

Horriferi speciem profert nova stella draconis, 
Et duo procedunt radii serpentis ab ore, 
Et diversa petunt. Unus trans Gallica regna 
Tendit, ad australes extenditur alter Hybernos. 
Sideris aspectus, monstrum mirabile visu, 
Incutit horrorem spectantibus; inclitus Uther 
Augurium vatis Merlini, quid sibi sidus, 
Quid draco, quid radii, divisio quid radiorum 
Vult, jubet inquiri. Vates, dum spiritus intrat, 
Suspirat, fremit et trepidat, flet, clamat et inquit : 3830 

" regis casus! o publica pena, ruina 
Communis, nullo reparabile tempore dampnuml 
Aurelius periit, sub quo pereunte perimus; 
Sed bene consuluit nostro deus ipse periclo, 
Quod vivis, dignusque potes sucedere fratri. 
Festines igitur hostes invadere ferro, 
Pugna pro patria, prope stat victoria tecum. 
Te draco significat, radii duo sunt tua proles 



LIBEfi SEXTUS. 103 

Que tibi oascetor; radius qui tendit in Alpes, 

Rex erit illustris, cui regum serviet agmen. 2840 

Unica nascetor tibi filia; regis Hyberni 

Uxor erit, prolem producet : significatur 

Illa per bunc radium qui plagam prospicit Austri. " 

A monitu vatis obstantes fertur in hostes. 

Utraque pars in parte cadit, cadit ille rebellis 

Rex Gillominus, et dux Pascencius, inde 

Saxones ostendunt et Hyberni terga Britannis ; 

Et repetunt naves, cedes in terga gerentes. 

Wintoniam dux victor adit, cleroque favente 

Et procerum cetu, regis decoratur honore. t850 

Fabricat ex auro duo.rex vexilla draconis, 

Illius ad formam quam nuper in aere vidit; 

Unum deponit sedis cathedralis in ede, 

Et reliquum precedit ei cum fertur in hostes. 

Uther Pendragon vulgaliter idem vocatur, 

Quod Britones dicunt stupidum caput esse draconis. 

Interea dum tota novo favet insula regi, 
Ecce duces quibus Aurelius donaverat olim 
In regno partem, contra rectumque fidemque 
Quam dederant, dispersa vocant collegia gentis tseo 

Saxonice, regemque novum regnumque molestant. 
At rex magnanimus, collectis viribus, hostes 
Impetit, impetui cujus perjura resistunt 
Agmina; nuUa manus torpescit dum tenet ensem. 
Omnes arma tenent, omnes prosternere temptant. 
Arva cruore rubent, occumbunt strata per agros 
Corpora, dampna sue patitur pars utraque gentis. 
Ambigitur que sit pars gavisnra triumpho, 



104 GESTA RKGIM filUTANlU £. 

Donec rex campum retroducens frena relinquit. 

Mons sublimis erat, circundatus undique saxis, 2870 

In medio frutices : illuc cum rege Britanni 

Ascendunt, hostesque suos sua terga sequentes 

Expectant illic, tali munimine tuti. 

Jam nocti cedente die, sua sub pede montis 

Castra locant hostes. Rex vero quid sit agendum 

Querit, querenti sic dux Gorlosius inquit : 

" Quis pudor armatos includi more bidentum? 

Jam dormit pagana cohors, sompnoque gravatos 

Nos rata consimili fruitur secura sopore 

Nocte soporatos hostes invadere ferro. " 2880 

Id placet, armantur, descendunt, inde sopitos 

Bachantur gladiis ; de sompno suscitat ensis 

Illos, quos cogit sompno dormire perhenni. 

Effusi per castra vage ruit unda cruoris, 

Declivo ruitans in vatle jacentibus ictu. 

Vulneris ingeminat mortem cum vulnere sanguis. 

Corpora cesorum coacervat sanguinis unda 

Vallis in cxtremo, defuncta cadavera firmo 

Obice diffusum faciunt stagnare cruorem. 

pietas dampnosa! tuis nimium pius, hosti 2890 

Impius, ipse suis capit Octam rex et Eosam. 

Diffugit effera gens, regi victoria cedit. 

Victor de regno victos exterminat hostes, 

Pacificat regnum, jus dictat, justiciamque 

Servari, metuique jubet, penasque nocentum 

Taxat, taxatas nulla pietate relaxat. 

Rege jubente, duces, clerus, reliquique potentes 
Londonias veniunt, Pasche sollempnia rite 



LIBEB SEXTDS. 105 

Concelebraturi. Venit et dnx Cornubiensis 
Cum consorte thori, que quanto Cintia stellis 2900 

Et Phebus lune, tanto preest illa puellis. 
Rex igitur, visis oculis facieque ducisse, 
Ejus amore calet, nusquam declinat ab illa 
Lumina, torquetur mente, suique 
Oblitus decoris, fieri Gorlosius optat. 
Percipit errorem regis Gorlosius : unde 
Clam venit ad patriam cum conjuge. Tangitur intus 
Felle doloris amans, ferro devastat et igni 
Cornubiam ; sed dux duo munitissima servat 
Oppida, Tyntagolum, quod circuit undique pontus. *9io 

Hic Ygerna latet, necnon et Dimiliocum ; 
Quod dux ingreditur, ingressumque obsidet Uther. 
Dumque animo recolit cultum vultumque ducissc, 
In regis rapide serpunt precordia flamme; 
Cumque suum celare diu non posset amorem, 
Ulphino mala que patitur sub amore revelat. 
Ulphinus Merlinon adit, poscitque dolenti 
Auxilium regi. Merlinus, carmine dicto, 
Mutat in effigiem regem ducis, addit et ipsi 
Ulphino speciem Jordani Tyntagolensis, 2920 

Assumitque ducis famuli Britelis ydeam ; 
Tyntagolumque petunt, admittit portitor iilos. 
Rex subit optatum talamum votoque potitur. 
Tres noctes totidemque dies dux, creditur, illic 
Continuat, quum non est nox unica tanti 
Ut tantus generetur homo; nam dum quadrangulus orbis 
Manserit, Arturus eternum nomen habebit. 
Interea nota est clausis absencia regis. 



106 GESTA BEGUM BBITANHI4. 

Duz igitur portis Gorlosius ezit apertis, 

Et gladio faciente viam se mittit in hostes. 2980 

Cum ter mille viris in primo marte peremptus, 

Duz cadit. Occisi casum ducis intimat ejus 

Nuncius uzori ; sed forma sophistica regis 

Contradicit ei. Regis fallace remota, 

Vera redit facies ; quam rez cognovit adulter, 

Cognoscit conjunz pleni quod suscipit inde. 

Nobilis Arturus hinc nascitur et soror Anna. 

Inde diu placita gavisa est insula pace; 

Sed quia sepe solent misceri tristia letis, 

Tocius in luctum vertuntur gaudia regni : 2940 

Nam simul egressi de carcere regis Eosa 

Octaque sunt, bellis regem regnumque lacescunt ; 

Nam rez egrotus obsistere non valet illis. 

Loth tamen egregio regni committit habenas. 

Iile vices regis supplet pro posse Britannos, 

Ducit in adversas acies, quandoque fugatur 

Et quandoque fugat; sed rez, qui vincere semper 

Est solitus, vincique suo conquestus ab hoste, 

Se fecit in feretro Germanica in agmina ferri. 

Omnes in feretro tum conspicientes 3950 

Seminecem, renuunt armis incessere. Regem 

Ezcitat ilie tamen acies in Sazones. Octa 

Duz et Eosa cadunt cum magna parte suorum. 

Diffugiunt alii, regem sentire dolorem 

Langoris prohibent cantus plaususque triumphi. 

Vis tamen illa mali, post tanta molestius ipsum 

Gaudia facta gravant regem, graviusque fatigant. 

Purius argento, regali subditus aule 



LIBEB SEXTCS. 107 

Fons manat : rex inde solet sua membra lavare 

Et relevare sitim. Fons est de nocte veneno 2960 

Infectus, rex inde bibit cum morte venenum. 



GESTORUM REGUM BRITANNLE 



LIBER SEPTIMUS. 



Ineipit aeptimus liber. 

Septimus Arturum decorat diademate regis. 
Infestat Colgrinus eum, rex obsidet hostes. 
Cheldrico venientc fugit; sed tutus Hoeli 
Auxilio dispersit eos. Devincit Hybernos, 
Scotos divertit, festum colit, et tria donat 
Regna tribus ; ducit uxorem, regna propinqua 
Subjugat, Occeanum sibi subdit, Gallica regna 
Vi superat, diversa suis dat munera maniplis, 
Eboracum repetit, et sollempnizat ibidem. 2970 

Cum sibi subjectis ineunt post fercula ludos. 

Candida Caliope, cetu comitante sororum, 
Ex Elicone veni, pectusque arentis inane 
Sacro fonte riga; neque enim describere gesta 
Arturi metrice, ne detractare viderer, 
Presumo sine te. Nil hic prodesset Homerus, 
Nil Naso, nil Virgilius, uil Tullius ipse 
Absque tuo motu; quia quantis fortis Achilles 
Tersiten excedit, tantis prefertur Achilli 
Laudibus Arturus. Cujus preconia vatis 2980 

Meonii condigna modis Eneydos auctor 
Hystorie veteris Anchise proposuisset, 



110 GE8TA BBGUH BRITANNIJE. 

Lucanusque gravis tacuisset Cesaris actus, 

Et veteres Thebe caruissent perpete fama, 

Si precedissent Arturi gesta poetas ; 

Sed ne depereat tantus sine laudibus heros, 

Principis invicti laudes extollere conor. 

Officium tamen esse meum virtutibus ejus 

Inferius constat; sed pauper gratus ad aram 

Acceptusque venit, nec in ejus munere numen 2990 

Estimat effectum precii, sed sacrificantis 

Affectum : non est accepcior hostia Cresi, 

Mactato vitulo, quam ceso pauperis agno. 

Conveniunt igitur, defuncto rege, Britaoni 
Arturumque patris dignum diademate censent, 
Ut quem commendat mentis constancia, Christi 
Gratia, larga manus, virtus invicta, diserta 
Lingua, decor vultus, discrecio, dextera fortis. 
Jam tum quinquennem, populo plaudente Britanno, 
Archipresul eum Dubricius, associatis 3000 

Presulibus regni, diademate regis honorat. 
Rex novus ergo, novo non depravatus honore, 
More colit Christum consueto ; largus in omnes 
Spargit opes, Britonumque datis adquirit amorem 
Muneribus, munit munito milite regnum. 

Interea subitum regis Germania casum 
Audierat, fortesque suos transmiserat illuc 
Sub duce Colgrino. Qui regnum depopulantes, 
In populum populique domos bachantur in igne, 
Et gladio passim perimunt juvenesque senesque ; 3010 

Et lactans lactensque simul, insonsque nocensque, 
Morte pari pereunt in templa nephanda deorum. 



LIBEE SEPTIMCS. 111 

Ecclesias vertunt, nulla est reverencia sacri 

Ordinis, et Christi nomen deletur ab Humbro. 

Ad Cathinense fretura cedunt divina prophanis. 

Rex fremit audita miseranda strage suorum, 

Congregat ergo suas acies et fertur in hostes. 

Ut leo jejunus sicienti fauce cruorem 

Fertur in armentum, six Saxones impetit heros. 

Marcius Eboracum tendens, ubi Saxones esse 3020 

Fama refert, cum gente sua rex obviat illis. 

Perpetuo cursu rapitur Doulasius ampnis 

Illuc; concurrunt hinc perfidus, inde fidelis. 

Quantus amor regni communis tangat utrumque, 

Ictu teste probat ; par est utriusque voluntas 

Partis, et affectus adquirere sanguine regnum. 

Utraque pars in parte perit, pars mergitur ampne, 

Pars cadit ense fero. Post factas undique cedes 

Pars pagana fugit, cedentem verbere cedens. 

Arturus sequitur ingressos, obsidet urbem 3080 

Eboracum ; per inane volant utrimque sagitte. 

Nec mora, Baldulphus, Colgrini frater, ad urbem 

Obsessam tendit, statuens de nocte Britannos 

Securos armis invadere. Comperit ejus 

Arturus fraudem ; quem fraude repellere caute 

Premeditans, equites sexcentos mittit in ejus 

Occursum, peditumque simul tria milia nocte 

Sub duce Cornubie; quem dum Baldulphus et ejus 

Agmina pretereunt, invadunt agmen inerme 

Armati Britones. Bellum committitur impar; 3040 

Nam nudos armata cohors non percucientes 

Interimit. Dat terga fuge Germanica turba. 



112 GESTA REGUM ItRITANNI £. 

At cum Baldulphus clausi non posset habere 
Colloquium fratris, tuto radi sibi barbam 
Cesariemque facit contra pagana statuta; 
Et posito vultu pagani, se citharedum 
Assumpta fingit cithara, gentisque fidelis 
Castra subit. Timidus muris approximat urbis, 
Agnoscit fratrem frater, jactoque rudente 
Tollit eum. Frater letatur fratre reperto. 3050 

Denique cum clausi desperant, dumque triumphi 
Spem gerit Arturus, dum muri concuciuntur, 
Ecce fere naves sexcente milite plene 
Adveniunt, quas jam Germania miserat illuc 
Cum duce Cheldrico. Quas cum rex novit adesse, 
Ne sibi deterius contingeret, obsidionem 
Deserit, et laxis ducto petit agmine frcnis 
Londonias. Kex Armorice regionis Hoelus 
Ducit in auxilium regis ter quinque virorum 
Milia, de quorum numero confisus, in hostes 3060 

Se gerit, obsessam cingentes Lindecolinum. 
Perfida christicolis gens firma mente resistit, 
Datque capitque graves constrictis ensibus ictus ; 
Et clipeo Christi protecta caterva fidelis 
Tradit pagane gentis sex milia morti. 
Cumque sibi prodesse nichil videt ydola, campum 
Deserit effera gens, fugiensque relaxat habenas. 
Stat nemus arboreo Calidonis robore densum, 
In quo se recipit fera gens ; et mente resumpta, 
Stans illic jactis telis saxisque resistit 3070 

Impetui Britonum. Britones sua tela videntes 
Nil prodesse sibi, quum nemus excipit ictus, 



LIBER SEPTIMUS. 113 

Arboribus cesis includunt Saxones. Ipsi 

Cum sibi preclusum cernunt iter egrediendi, 

Ne fame depereant, vitam tantummodo regem 

Poscunt, et jurant quod vectigalia solvet 

Annua christicolis Germania serva Britannis. 

Quidquid habent regi concedunt eris et auri. 

Hec audita placet res regi, liberat hostes, 

Obsidibusque datis ad propria dirigit illos. 3080 

Ingressique rates expandunt lintea ventis ; 

Jamque maris medium nacti, jam litora regni 

Cernentes patrii, cum se sine laude redire 

Conspiciunt, rediisse piget ; pugnando perire 

Quam sic degeneres inhonestam ducere vitam, 

Pulchrius esse putant. Retroducunt ergo carinas, 

Et litus Totonense petunt, et litus adepti 

Discurrunt per rura vage. Furit ignis in edes, 

Ensis in agricolas ; nichil est a litore dicto 

Ad mare Sabrinum quod non sit tempore parvo 3090 

Subpositum exitio. Veniunt Badonis ad urbem, 

Obsessamque suo conantur subdere juri. 

Postquam fama rei regis pervenit ad aures, 

Horum perfidiam miratus tendit in hostes ; 

Corde tamen teritur quo rex jacet eger Hoelus. 

Indignans igitur visa procul obsidione, 

Sic ait : " socii, quorum probitate subactus 

Solis ab occasu vivam modo solis ad ortum, 

Vertice subposito totus michi serviet orbis I 

Ecce maligna cohors, quam credimus hostis, 3100 

Spretis que dederat juramentoque fideque, 

In nostrum regnum ferro bachantur et igni. 



8 



114 GESTA BEGUBI BBITANNI£. 

Perjuros igitur invadite, sternite forti 
Dextra mendaces. Fieri perjuria debent 
Noxia perjuris. Miles cui vincere mens est, 
Arturi regis actus imitetur in armis. 
Si quis cedentem, nec Martis in agmine primum, 
Viderit Arturum (quod nullo tempore fiet), 
A simili fugiat, et iners imitetur inertem. " 

Antistes vero Dubricius astat in alto, 3110 

Expositoque Sacre Scripture teumate, clamat : 
" Lectio sacra docet Christum posuisse sub hoste 
Pro nobis animam : pro Christi ponite vestras 
Membris, que laniat furiis invecta tyrannis 
Saxonice gentis; patriam defendite vestram 
Ecclesiasque Dei, quas destruit hosticus ignis. 
Presentis vite est spacium breve; vita futura 
Morte caret; justi mors gloria, pena perhennis 
Mors peccatoris; servatur mortibus ille. 
Pruna gravat corpus, animam necat altera prima, 3120 

Inducit natura necem, premissa secundam 
Accio, pruna perit cum corpore, durat in evum 
Spiritus et sua mors ; non posse perire periclum 
Talibus est, non posse mori mors tristior omni 
Morte : moram mortis accusant qui paciuntur. 
Cum judex justus hominum discusserit acta, 
Diffinitivam precise proferet, a qua 
Appellare nephas, reprobis : " Discedite, " dicens, 
Atque " Venite " probis. Tunc post divorcia primi 
Conjugii, nubet iterum caro lege perhenni 3130 

Spiritui, vitave simul vel morte fruentur, 
Felices vita, presciti morte merendum est. 



LIVEH SEPTINUS. 115 

In mundj campo quis qna gaudebit earum, 

Aut flebit scmper; flebit qui tempus in actus 

Expendit pravos, gaudebit qui bene vixit. 

Qui bene certavit, donabitur inde corona. 

Ergo pro fratrum, fratres, pugnate salute. 

Si vos contigerit mortem pugnando subire, 

Perpetuum regnum capietis pro perituro. 

Pgrpura martirii, precio preciosior omni, 3140 

Preminet in celo, cunctosque excellit honores. 

Martiribus debetur honos cum martire Christo, 

Cui laus et virtus et honor per secla cuncta. " 

Vix ea finierat presul, cum tota capescit 
Arma cohors, votisque petunt certamen inire. 
Induit Arturus loricam principe dignam, 
Assumit galeam, cujus draco fulgidus auro 
Irradiat ; conum clipeum quoque, nomine Prudeti, 
Fert humeris, in quo Christi genitricis ymago 
Fulget; fert gladium, cujus nomen Caliburnus; 3150 

Hastam dextra gerit Ron dictam, cladibus aptam. 
Dispositis igitur cuneis, hinc inde Britanni 
Saxones invadunt. Adversa fronte resistit 
Tota turba die. Germanica, sole latente, 
Axe sub occiduo montis sublime cacumen 
Occupat, hic credens tutum munimen habere ; 
At postquam Tytan hebetavit crastinus astra, 
Montis in ascensum velocius alite tendunt 
Invicti Britones, cujus vix culmen adepti 
Ensibus incurrunt in Saxones. Ensibus illis 3160 

Saxones obsistunt; sed cum pars magna diei 
Nec quidquam consumpta foret, nec cederet isti 



116 GESTA REGCH DBITANNI£. 

Aut illi parti victoria, concitus ira 

Impiger Arturus obstantes fertur in hostes. 

Ut leo quem stimulant jejunia ventris inanis 

In pecudes fertur, sternitque et diripit illas, 

Nec stratis sedare famem, sed sternere curat, 

Dum quas stare videt, sic heros marcius hostes 

Impetit et sternit et dissipat; ad Stiga solus 

Quingentos mittit. Campum Cheldricus et ejus 8170 

Agmina destituunt, potitur rex laudis honore. 

Inde Cador, dux Cornubie, sequitur fugientes 
Saxones, et naves iliorum perpete cursu 
Anticipat, reditusque sui spem subripit illis; 
Nam rex audito Scotos Pictosque nepotem 
Obsedisse suum, valido languore gravatum, 
Tendit eo, ne forte fero capiatur ab hoste. 
Navibus ergo Cador captis sua ducit in hostes 
Agmina; bella gerunt hinc Saxones, idem Britanni. 
Quot ferro cecidere viri, concludere certo 3180 

Difficile est numero. Tandem dat terga pudende 
Gens perjura fuge; fugiens, terreve cavernas 
Aut nemorum latebras querit. Manet insula magno 
Eminus Occeano ; se fert Germauicus iliuc 
Qui supcrest hostis. Cador hostem, forcior hoste, 
Insequitur. Cheldricus obit perimente Cadore ; 
Quo ceso, reliqui coguntur dedicioni. 
Inde Cador sequitur Arturum, qui vice versa 
Pictos et Scotos inclusos obsidet infra. 

Limonos stagnumque plures continet in se 3190 

Insululas, ubi nidificant aquile, et regionis 
Excidium horrisonis predicunt vocibus : illic 



i 



LIDEB SEPTIMUS. 117 

Obsidet Arturus hostes ter quinque diebus. 

Perpessique famem pereunt ad milia Scoti, 

Cum Gillominus de finibus exit Hybernis, 

Electosque viros regni cum classe parata 

Ducit in Arturum. Rex deserit obsidionem, 

Atque in Hybernenses ferrum convertit, eosque 

Cedibus affectos retro dare carbasa cogit. 

Inde redit, Scotosque petit, cum turba fidelis 3200 

Pontificumque clerique, sacro velamine tecta, 

Nuda pedes, puro portans abscondita in auro 

Corpora sanctorum, simplex humilisque, faventi 

Obviat, et flexis genibus lacrimisque profusis 

Sic ait : " juvenum fortissime, maxime regum, 

Quem virtus invicta probant, quem gratia Christi 

Mitem, quem facies placitum, quem lingua disertum 

Roborat, exaudi gemitum fletusque precantum 

Christi servorum ; miseris miserere precamur. 

Quam meruere pati, penam subiere nocentes. 3210 

Pena doli tenuit auctores ; ncc licet ultra 

Vindictam extendi quam sint delicta reperta. 

Subicimus tibi nos, tua sit provincia presens, 

Et tua te pietas vincat, qui cetera vincis. " 

Fletibus hiis motus flet, et ipso, piisque piorum 

Devictus precibus, votis indulget eorum. 

Inde nepos regis, rex Armoricanus Hoelus, 

Predicti stagni rupes, nidos aquilarum, 

Insululas, fluvios cernens, miratur; at illi 

Sic ait Arturus : " Magis est mirabile stagnum 3220 

Haut procul hinc distans, cujus natura stupenda est. 

Dispositum in quadro est, non longius esse videtur 



118 GESTA BEGUM BBITANNIJE. 

Longum ejus laio : viginii constat utrumque 

Esse pedum ; sed quinqne pedum non amplius altum est. 

Pisces in stagno genenim sunt quatuor illo, 

Unum quodque sibi partem tenet appropriatam. 

Nec metam excedens istud genus invidet illi; 

Sed contentum sorte sua, quam lege perhenni 

Mater ei Natura dedit, non se gerit ultra. 

Est aliud stagnum magis hiis mirabile, juxta 3230 

Sabrinum litus ; quia cum mare fluctuat in se, 

Abdit aquas pelagi velut insaciata vorago. 

Cum mare se retrahit, vomit undas montis ad instar. 

Si versa facie stagni quis prospiciet undam, 

Dum sic ebullit modicaque aspergine stantis 

Irrorat vestes, stantem petit impetus unde, 

Aut vix aut nunquam vim fluctus vinccre possit; 

Sed verso dorso cernenti non nocet unda. " 

Inde data Scotis venia cum laude triumphi, 

Rex venit Eboracum, cujus cum strata videret stto 

Menia et ecclesias, contritus corde dolori 

Condolet oppresse et viduate civibus urbis, 

Compatiturque apici proprio pastore carenti ; 

Nam sanctus Sampson, de sede fugatus eadem, 

Fugerat hostiles gladios populumque Dolensom. 

Exemplo verboque docet prelatus eidem. 

Rex igitur vidue pastorem providet urbi, 

Piramon insignem meritis, virtute coruscum. 

Ecce dies iustat in qua de virgine nasci 
Christus homo voluit; cujus sollempne diei 3250 

Rcx celebraturus festum, clerum proceresque 
Convocat huc, et, more suo dyademate sumpto, 



LIBEE SEPTIMtS. 110 

Post sacra missaram sollempnia, post epularum 

Diversi generis data fercula, dona maniplis 

Larga snis tribuit, et quas destruxerat hostis 

Ecclesias reficit et dotat dote perhenni. 

Dat tria regna tribus regali stirpe creatis 

Fratribus : Anguseli pars Scocia, pars Uriani 

Huresia est, pars Loth Lodonesia, cui soror Anna 

Arturi nupta est, de qua susceperat ipse 3860 

IUustres juvenes; appellavitque Modredum 

Galvanumque pater, mire probitatis utrumque. 

Inde Guenhomaram, Lacia de gente creatam, 

Ducit in uxorem, cujus preclara decorem 

Sidera mirantur, cui solis lumina cedunt. 

Hiis ita dispositis, in regnum tendit Hjbernum 
Impiger Arturus, regnoque et rege subactis 
Irlandrense petit regnum, jurique Britanno 
Vindicat et subdit. Regis vulgata propinquis 
Fama metum generat regnis ; et sponte tributum 3270 

Pollicitantur ei, ne vi superentur ab illo. 
Partibus occiduis tam vi tam sponte Britannis 
Subpositis juri, populo clamante triumphum, 
In patriam rex regreditur, regnumque quieta 
Pace facit gaudere fere ter quatuor annis. 
Nobilium interea de quantumcumque remotis 
Partibus adveniunt. Juvenes rex letus honorat, 
Neoptolomosque facit, et equis armisque decorat, 
Muneribusque datis ditat. Venientibus ejus 
Omnibus aula patet, nec queritur unde vel ad quid ssso 

Quis veniat. Nichil proprium, communia cuncta. 
Rex regum tantum servat sibi nominis usum. 



120 GESTA BEGCM BBITANNIA. 

Incutit Arturi regnis vulgata rcmotis 
Fama metum. Hetuit Germania, menia munit 
GaUia, Roma tremuit, non est Hyspania tuta. 
Rex simul agnovit se regibus esse timori, 
Concipit ingentes animos, classemque refectam 
Armatisque viris validis in litora ducit 
Norguegie, quam Loth Sichelis, avunculus ejus, 
In testamento dederat rex ; sed regionis 3290 

Ejusdem proceres sibi proposuere Riculphum. 
Qui cum Norguegicis adversa fronte resistit 
Arturo; tamen ille cadit cum parte suorum. 
Norguegicos Dacosque regit diademate sumpto, 
Rege sub Arturo, rex Loth, probitate choruscus. 
Viribus inde petit collectis bellicus heros 
Litora Gallorum, Lacio commissa tribuno ; 
Gallia Frolloni servit provincia Rome. 
Hic sibi subjectos GaUos ad bella paratos 
Ducit in Arturum. Pars parti cedere nescit. 3300 

Utraque fulmineis teUs infestat utramque, 
Utraque fraxineis hastis impugnat utramquc, 
Utraque mortiferis gladiis detruncat utramque, 
Utraque sanguineis torrentibus inficit equor, 
Utraque dampna sui patitur pars. Dampna minora 
Pars subit Arturi; sed pars majora tribuni. 
FroUo suos nil posse videns, dat terga Britannis, 
Parisiusque fugit, et munit menibus urbem. 
Obsidet Arturus munitam milite multo, 
ImpeUit muros. Defendunt menia GaUi. 3310 

Mense fere elapso Gallos fame depereuntes 
Frollo conspiciens, Arturo talia scribit : 



-^ »T5S 



LIBEB SEPTIMUS. 121 

" Rex, ait, illustris, cujus preconia laudum 

Solis ab occasu solis vulgantur ad ortum, 

Ne roea depereat gens et tua marte sub uno, 

Cum solo solus ineas Frollone dueilum, 

Et victi victor habeat sine cismate regnum. " 

Id placet, id firmo firmatur federe. Sumunt 

Arma, vehuntur equis. Quisnam sit major eorum 

Aut minor ambigitur, aut quis sit viribus impar. 3320 

Haut procul a muro, Secane circundata fluctu, 

Insula amena jacet. Pugil illuc tendit ulerque. 

Distantes spacio mannos calcaribus urgent, 

Erectisque adeunt sese velociter hastis, 

Dantque graves ictus. Regis felicior hasta 

Deicit a sella Frollonem; FroUo, leone 

Sevior irato, pretenta cuspide regem 

Impetit et sternit. Britones cecidisse videntes 

Ad terram regem, festinant ferre jacenti 

AuxiUum domino, promisso federe rupto, 3330 

Cum subito cernunt armatum surgere regem ; 

Jamque ambo pedites, gladios clipeosque tenentes, 

Dissolvunt gladiis cUpeos in tempore parvo. 

In paris exicio par est intentus et ictu. 

Teste probant quante sit eis victoria cure. 

Dant crebros ictus ; toto conamine Frollo 

AUidit regis terebrata cuspide frontem. 

Purpurat arma cruor. Quo viso flagrat in ira 

Utherides heros, et Merlinus impete miro 

Impetit auctorem ; strictumque tenens Caliburnum, 3340 

Adquirit vires extenso corpore toto, 

Astantisque viri galeamque caputque bipartit. 



J22 GESTA BEGUM BBITAR flliE. 

Frollo cadit, rex victor abit, plauduntque Britanni, 

Et civeg portis regem venerantur apertis. 

In partes rex inde dnas sna dividit eque 

Agmina; magnanimo partem committit Hoelo, 

Et partem retinet reliqnam sibi, qua regiones 

Vicinas superat. Pictavos vincit Hoelos 

Cnm duce Guitardo, solitosqae sitire cruorem 

Wascones humanum, posita feritate, Britanno 3350 

Snbdere colla jugo cogit, legemque subactis 

Indicit, ritusque novis inducit, et uti 

Nunc primum dapibus communibus edocet ttlos. 

Delius undecies longum compleverat annum, 
Cum rex regreditur cum magna laude triumpbi 
Parisius ; bene pro meritis dat dona maniplis 
Larga suis : picerna tibi Normannia tota 
In sortem Beduer cessit, concedit babendam 
Andegavim Keyo, dat plures pluribus urbes 
Oppidaque et villas et opes ; sua jura suosque 3860 

Inducit ritus, firmat pacemque fidemque. 
Vere novo Zepbirus dat carbasa, transmeat equor 
Occeani, regnumque suum cum plaudibus intrat. 

Ecce dies instat qua pectora discipulorum 
Tristia consolans, solidavit celitus ignis. 
Illa rite die festum sollempne, vocatis 
Regibus et ducibus sibi subjectis, celebrare 
Rex cupit Arturus, ut si quid litigiosum 
Inciderit, vel judicio vel pace secundet. 
Invitata cohors clerique ducumque 3370 

Convenit ad regem, quorum si singula metro 
Nomina commendem, nimium proUxus habebor. 



LIBEB SEPTIXUS. 123 

Nobilis urbs et amena situ quain labilis Osca 

Jrrigat Eboracum, capiendis apta videtur 

Tot populis. Illuc veniunt, regemque salutant 

Centum pontifices, prelati raille, bis octo 

Reges, viginti fasces, comitesque ducesque 

Et proceres, quorum numerum*depromere non est 

In promptu, multo minus enumerare minores. 

Rex igitur, regni sumpto diademate, limen asso 

Ecclesie cathedralis adit, quod turba verenda 

Pontificum superat, regumque ducumque caterve. 

Quatuor incedunt reges, et quatuor enses 

Ante ferunt auri puri fulgore micantes. 

Precedens alios cleri processio Regem 

Regum collaudat, et dulces personat hjmnos ; 

Regineque gerens insignia regia conjunx, 

Presulibus stipata sacris matrumque catervis, 

Tendit ad ecclesiam, Juli tibi sancte dicatam. 

Quam precedentes precedunt bis duo reges, 3390 

Portantes manibus albas de more columbas ; 

Virgineique chori subtili voce canentes 

Precedunt, vocisque movent dulcedine cunctos. 

Hic audit regina sacre soliempnia misse. 

Illic Arturus, hic dulci voce puelle, 

Iliic organica pucri dulcedine cantant. 

Quamvis magna foret jam pars consumpta diei, 

Pars tamen illa brevis presentibus esse videtur. 

Inde petunt epulas. Cum rege mares epulantur, 

Et cum regina mulieres, more vetusto 3400 

Trojane gentis; Keiusque et mille potentes, 

Herminio tecti, clarissima, turba ministrant 



124 GESTA REGCM BBITAfilU£. 

Diversas epulas ; Bedueros totque ministri, 

Induti vario, nectar vinumque propinant. 

Tyrones leti, vinoque ciboque refecti, 

Diversos ineunt ludos. Pars una palestram, 

Pars tyrocinium, taxillos tercia querit, 

Pars lucte certamen init, pars vincere cursu 

Certat. Victores largo rex munere ditat. 

Edita murorum mulierum turba coronat. 3410 

Cui faveat, pro quo timeat, pro cujus amore 

Langueat, omnis habet mulier specialiter illic; 

Nulla puella tamen alicui se reddit amicam 

Qui tunc non fuerit bello superasse probatus. 



GESTORUM REGUM BRITANNI^E 



LIBER OCTAVUS. 



Incipit octavus Uber. 

Destinat odavus legatos. Participato 
Consilio procerum dat rex responsa, movetur 
Lucius, Eoos reges jubet arma movere. 
Congregat Occeani reges Arturus ad Albam. 
Utraque pars properat. Galganus Quintilianum 
Ioterimit, refugit; fugientem mille sequuntur. 3420 

Obstat Ydernus eis, capit hos, regique ligatos 
Tradit ; Parisius mittuntur. Lucius illis 
Hittit in occursum fortes; missi capiuntur. 
Ccsar abit pede retrogrado, rex pervenit illuc. 

Continuis sollempne tribus celebrare diebus 
Conlibuit festum ; sed gratos seria ludos 
Interruperunt letas mutancia mentes : 
Namque senes bis sex moderatis passibus adsunt, 
Qui coram rege astantes hec verba profantur : 
" Lucius Augustus, cui totus subjacet orbis, 3430 

Miratur qua fronte tuas excedere metas 
Ausus es, et nostrum jus, juris federe rupto, 
Usurpare tibi. Cnr in messes alicnas 
Inmittis falcem? Hetis hic ubi semina nulla 
Sparsisti, spargis ubi spicas colliget alter. 



126 GESTA REGUM BBirANIU*. 

Quid tibi cum Gallis, quos nostro Julius olim 

Subdidit imperio? Gur vectigalia oobis 

Reddere conteudit subjecta Britannia nostris ? 

Sis tantum contentus eo quod jnre paterno, 

Rex Arture, tenes; Rome sua jura remitte. 8440 

Brutica stirps, miserere tui, miserere tuorum, 

Ne tua forte tuis noceat temeraria virtus. 

Romanus princeps te jussit adire senatum, 

Conspectumque suum prefixo tempore certo, 

Ut pena discente scias quam perniciosum, 

Quam grave Romanum fuit offendisse senatam ; 

Quod si distuleris scelus hoc, manet tiltio dira. 

Cede flagellatus, proprio privabere regno, 

Omnibus amissis, si sit tibi vita relicla. 

Principis existet clemencia micior equo. " 3450 

Vix bene desierant, cum rex in turre gygantum 
Congregat electos proceres, ut consulat illos 
Quid sit in hoc casu faciendum; dumque gradatim 
Ascendunt turrim, letanti corde solutus 
Dux Cador in risum sociis coeuntibus inquit : 
" Hoc solum metui ne pax diuturna Britannos 
Redderet ignavos, delerent occia nostre 
Miiicie famam, qua cunctis gentibus armis 
Preferimur, si pace diu frueremur inertes. 
Lustrum transactum est postquam nos gessimus arma. 3460 
Inde sumus facti jam desuetudine segnes ; 
Sed ne depereant nostre preconia fame, 
Ecce Dei virtus Romanos suscitat in nos. " 

Rex igitur septus regum procerumque corona, 
Sic ait : " quorum mentes belloque togaque 



LI0EE OCTAVUS. 197 

Expertus novi, michi pandite qnid sit agendum, 

Quid respondendum. Temeraria Roma tributum 

Exigit a nobis, pretendens premeditatam 

Erroris causam. Quia vi perceperat olim 

A nostris Cesar vectigal Julius, ex hoc 8470 

Jus non adquirit successio Cesaris; immo 

Turpiter allegat, dum sic auctoris ioiquom 

Pretendit titulum quam violencia nullo 

Jure facit dominum, nec ei prescripcio prodest. 

Ex inconcessis procedere si licet ultra, 

Si Rome adquirit violentus predo tribuiom, 

A simili causa nobis est subdita Roma. 

An non Belinus et Brennus, ambo Britanni, 

Imperiale decus Roma tenuere subacta? 

Et Constantinus, Helene clarissima proles, 3480 

Prefuit imperio, nec non et Maximianus; 

In quorum succedo locum, non degener heres. 

Si placet, idque michi, socii, prodesse videtis, 

Predecessorum michi reddere jura meorum 

Handabo Rome que privat honore meo me. " 

Vox erat in cursu dicentis talia regis, 

Cum sic excepit rex Armoricanus Hoelus : 

* Pluctuo leticia quod te, clarissime regum, 

Magnanimum video et tante virtutis habere 

Indicium. Tua jura petens, sua jura petendi 3490 

Jus tibi Roma dedit : concesso jure frnaris. 

Ecce Sibillinum carmen compiebitur in te, 

Quo cantum est regem venturum ex axe Britanno, 

Qui sibi subiciet ferro, flama, fame Romam. 

Utere jure dato tibi fatis, utere sceptro 



128 GE8TA BEGCM BI1ITAN1U£. 

Imperii quod Roma tibi jus fecit habendi. 
Cum decies tibi mille viris ad bella paratis 
Obsequium faciam ; solum hoc specialiter opto 
Ut tibi subjectam reddas me milite Romam . " 

Hiis dictis postquam vocem suppressit Hoelus, ssoo 

Explicat Auguselus : " Rex maxirae, talia regum 
Quaatam leticiam concepi liogua referre 
Nulla potest, postquam concepi te dare dignum 
Principe responsum, nec te mutare rigoris 
Propositum, nulloque quati terrore minarum. 
Roma tumet, fastusque parit, sacramque recusat, 
Fasque nephasque sibi licitum facit; omnia credit, 
Que jubet aut statuit, vim sacre legis habere ; 
Omniaque esse putat Romani propria fisci, 
Serviciumque sibi partes debere rcmotas. 3510 

Nonne veretur in hiis nature offendere legem, 
Que proprium aut servicium condempnata odit? 
An non ipsa suam legem de jure subire, 
Quam statuit, meruit? Pro legibus indicat esse 
Viribus utendum, pociorque in jure videtur 
Qui quocumque modo rem possidet indice Roma. 
Ergo suas leges, quas condidit, ordo senatus 
Senciat ; et princeps, qui te servile tributum 
Flagitat, inflatus fleat id, similique flagello 
Vapulet, et feriat sentencia quam tulit ipsum. 3520 

Si nos cum Laciis sub eodem marte venire 
Contigerit, quod precipuis desidero votis, 
Quam michi libertas placeat quam trisle subire 
Sit servile jugum, gladio testante probabo. 
Aggrediamur eos, ne nos prius aggrediantur. 



LIRBR OCTATCS. 199 

Assumas pariter equitum duo raillia mecum 

Et totidem pedites, qui tecum castra sequantur. " 

Fioierat rex Auguselus, cum cetera regum 
Turba, ducumque cohors, votis et vocibus ipsum 
Arma movere monent pro libertate tuenda 3530 

Utheriden. Quot quisque potest, equites peditesque, 
Regis in obsequium secum deducere taxat. 
Gallia promittit equitum bix sex legiones ; 
Excedit numerum peditum promissio certum. 

Rex igitur gaudens tot fortes esse paratos 
Ejus in obsequium, grates impendit eisdem 
Regibus et ducibus, et eos ad propria mittit ; 
Et jubet ut veniant cicius terraque marique 
Ad Barbam fluvium cum turbis prennmeratis ; 
Assignatque diem venturis cetibus, illam 3540 

In qua de manibus Petri cecidere cathene. 
Hiis dictis, proceres propere de turre gygantura 
Descendunt, patriasque petunt; cum rex duodenis 
Respondens senibus, quos princeps miserat, inquit : 
" Dicite Romanis qui vos misere, Britannos 
Romano juri nullo de jure subesse ; 
Nosque sciant in marte feros, in pace quietos. 
Romam munitus veniam non ere, sed armis, 
Ut rapiam aut reddam victor victusve tributum. " 
Inde senes Romam redeunt, responsaque regis »550 

Romanis referunt. Auditis Roma movetur. 
Lucius, audito responso regis, ab axe 
Convocat eos, reges procerumque catervas. 
Egyptus Libie, Babilonia, Grecia, Crete 
Merent discessum regum procerumque suorum. 



130 GESTA BEGUH BRITIRNIJE. 

Rex Frigie Teuther, medio rex Bocus, Echion 

Persarum, Evander Syrie, rex Ytireorum 

Herses, regnorumque duces, equitum legiones 

Bis sex adducunt Romam. Romana potestas 

Arma capit, sua castra movet, civesque Quirini 3560 

Flentes prospiciunt Romam non prospiciendam 

Amplius, et sponsam flentem flens ipse relinquit 

Sponsus; in amplexus uxor pia conjugis heret. 

Filius in patris brevibus cervice laccrtis 

Pendens exclamat : " Quo te, pater, eripis, aut cui 

Deseris uxorem? cui me fratresque relinquis? 

Deserimur fratres uno genitore pupilli. " 

Ecce pueltarum pulcherrima credita virgo, 
Tacta tamen tecto pulchri tyronis amore, 
Egreditur talamis, et quem celaverat ignem 3570 

Detegit insano Veneris stimulata furore ; 
Namque velut bache, stimulis exercila Bachi, 
In furias rapitur, sparsis in terga capillis, 
Sic ea mentis inops, vultu prodcnte furorem, 
Se jacit in turbas, juvenis retentat habenas 
Et clamans : " Meus est, meus est; quo te rapis? inquit; 
Quid tibi cum bellis solitis inducere mortem? 
Quid cum Normannis? Quid cum feritate Britanna? 
Quid tibi cum Scotis, cum Pictis et Venedotis? 
Arturum timeo, qui cum Frollone duellum 3580 

Commisit, mortique dedit rex ipsc triumphans 
Loth, Cador, Auguselus, Keius, Galganus, Hoelus. 
Hec audita sono solo me nomina tcrrent. 
Nulla domus plangore caret, via nulla querelis; 
Fcminei planctus et voces aera pulsant, 



LIBEB 0CTATUS. 131 

Horrisooos tonitrus reboat resonabilis Eucho. 
Exequias vivi facit uxor mesta mariti. 

Interea Occeani sulcatur classibus equor, 
In quibus Occasus reges proceresque feruntur 
Ad Barbam fluvium cum turbis prenumeratis. 3590 

At rex regine curam regoique Modredo 
Committit, portumque petit qui dicitur Hamon. 
Occius ascendunt classem, dant lintea vento. 
Nocte ferc media rex sompniat, et sibi visum est : 
Ursus ab Hyspana plaga venit, et druco dirus 
Surgit ab australi. Bellum committitur ingens 
Inter eos; tandem dirus dracho prevalet urso. 
Evigilans sua recolit sompnia, visa revelat 
Auguribus, quorum Gerio doctissimus inquit : 
" Te dracho presignat, bone rex, ursusque gygantem 3000 

Quem conculcabis gladio, cervice recisa. " 
Crastina lux oritur, optati litora portus 
Tota tenet classis. De navibus egrediuntur 
Et sua castra locant. Arturo fama gygantem 
Advenisse refert, et neptem regis Hoeli 
Subripuisse Helenam, montisque tenere cacumen 
Haud procul inde siti. Qui cum maris estuat unda, 
Insula fit; cum se retrahit, facilis datur iliuc 
Ingressus pedibus. Rex illuc rite, duobus 
Contentus sociis, Keyo simul et Beduero, 3^10 

Ducit iter; montesque duos, quorum minor alter, 
Conspiciunt, magnosque focos in utroque micantes; 
Ignorant in quo maneat cum virgine raptor. 
ln parva vehitur Beduer picerna phaselo, 
Solus, ut exploret quis mons sit mansio monstri ; 



132 . CESTA REGUll BRITARIUA. 

Et venit ad montem, casu ducente, minorem, 

Ascendensque audit vocem mulieris ; ad ignem 

Accedit, tumbamque videt, juxtaque sedentem 

Cernit anum flentem, plangentem pectus inane, 

Talia dicentem, singultu verba sequente : 3620 

" Seve deus, cur me post care funus alumpne 

Vivere permittis, si fas est dicere vitam 

Que nece fit gravior et pena sevior omni ? 

quam, virgo, tue genus est miserabile mortis ! 

Hoc tamen ipsa michi solacia mortua prebes, 

Quod tumulata jaces sine dampno virginitatis. " 

Vox erat in cursu subito cum sustulit ora, 

Conspectoque viro : " Que te demencia, dixit, 

Duxit in hunc montem? Miseranda morte peribis 

Hoste sub infando, presenti nocte. Recede 3630 

Dum licet. Ille gygas, monstrum deforme, cruorem 

Huroanum siciens, veniet cum fauce cruenta, 

Et male dispersum vacuo te condet in alvo. 

Cujus in amplexu forma perterrita monstri, 

Non corrupta tamen, vitam finivit Hoeli 

Neptis, quam proprio nutrivi lacte; dedique 

Defunctam tumulo, quem sic custodio lugens. 

At postquam fedo coitu fedare nequivit 

Ille gygas Helenam preventam morte, furoris 

In me convertit rabiem, mecumque coivit; s640 

Sed celum testor et celi jura, michi vim 

Intulit invite. Hiser, hinc fuge! jam venit ille 

Ad solitum coitum. Si nos invenerit una, 

Quam fame, quam telo, duplicata seviet ira. " 

Hiis verbis commotus, ait : " Dimitte querelas, 



LIBER 0CTAVUS. 133 

Pone metus ; veniet qui te de carccre monstri 

Eripiet, vindex oppre3se neptis Hoeli. " 

Inde redit, regiqne refert que vidit; at ille 

Virginis interitum male fert, sociosque precatur 

Ut sibi cum solo soli certare gygante 3650 

Concedant; nee opem prestent, nisi forte subesse 

Conspiciant ipsum nec posse resistere monstro. 

Hinc ad majoris tendunt fastigia montis : 

Ecce, pudor! matris Nature dedecus, horror 

Obprobriumque hominum, porcorum tabe cruenta 

Ora gerens, barbam concretam sanguine fedo, 

Distortum nasum, dentes non ordine justo 

Dispositos, fauces patulas, Acherontis ad instar, 

Obliquos oculos, caput admirabile visu, 

Innatas setas in toto corpore gestans, 3660 

Non alias vestes; ardenti presidet igni. 

Qui simul aspexit regem regisque sodales, 

Clavam quam duo vix juvenes extollere possent, 

Extollit manibus. Denudat rex Caliburnum, 

Pretensoque Gygen clipeo petit; ille Trivodem 

Extollens clavam cUpeum ferit, et sonus ictus 

Litora tota repiet. Rex impetit ense gygantem, 

Et ferit in frontem. Sanguis de fronte redundat, 

Sanguinis unda fluens excecat lumina monstri ; 

Non tamen est lesus letali vulnere, namque 3670 

Opposita gladio clava fit parcior ictus. 

Acrior effectus post vulnus, fertur in ipsum 

Vulneris auctorem, mediumque amplectitur hostem, 

Et genua ad terram obstrictum flectere cogit. 

Viribus exurgens revocatis, marcius heros 



134 GESTA JIEGTM BRITANNIJE. 

Terque quaterqoe ferum gladio ferit. Imprimit ensem 
Terrigene cerebro; clamat, cadit, ingemit ejus 
Et trepidat mater, vetuit vicinia motum. 

Rex igitur cernens corpus exangue jacentis, 
Solvitur in risum, sociisque stupentibus inquit : 3680 

Inter terrigenas monstro quod cernitis isto 
Nullum depressi tmculencius esse, Ritone 
Excepto, qui peliciam sibi fecerat atrox 
Ex barbis regum quos interfecerat ipse. 
Excoriare meam barbam mihi jussit, honoris 
Tantum promittens quod eam barbis aliorum 
Consertam venerans in summa parte locaret ; 
Cumque recusarem dare quod quesiverat illc, 
Aravion monte commisimus ambo duellum. 
Quem domui, mortique dcdi. " Caput ergo gygantis S690 

Amputat, et secum repetens tentoria transfert . 
Castrorum turmas inducit, causa videndi 
Exiciale caput ; et dignum carmine laudtim 
Extollunt regem, qui tam mirabile monstrum 
Devicit, civesque suos a peste redemit. 

At rex Armoricus, quem neptis fata molestant, 
Ecclesiam condit illic, ubi virgo sepulta 
Est Helene, Tumbamque Helenes jubet illc vocari 
Montis congeriem, que sic nunc usquc vocalur. 
Inde celer rex castra movens producit ad Albam 3700 

Innumcras acies, illic tentoria tendit ; 
Nam prope Romanos cives sua castra locasse 
Fama refert; sed rex inmotus mittit ad illos 
Tres proceres, quorum sunt nomina : Boso, Gerinus, 
Galganusque nepos regis, qui talia dicunt : 



LIBEB OCTAVCS. 135 

" Arturus, cujus tu jussis obvias, ipso 

Te facio dampnat. Tibi prccipit, inclite Luci, 

Ut dum res patitur, fugias de partibus istis. " 

Quintilianus eis, ira dictante, loquutus 

Est ita : " Sunt Britones tam re quam nomine Bruti, 3710 

Quorum bella mine, qnorum jactancia virtus. 

Non venit ut fugiat, sed ut effuget imperialis 

Majestas. Britones fugiant, regnoque Britanno 

Intenti reddant nobis sine lite tributtiin. " 

Plura loquuturum Galganus lumine torvo 

Prospiciens, sic inquit ei : " Te teste probabo 

Non linguis tantum Britones prodesse, sed armis. " 

Dixit, et extracto gladio caput amputat ejus. 

Inde vebuntur equis et eos calcaribus urgent 

Legati, repetuntque suos. Romana juventus 3720 

Illos insequitur, vindictam sumere prompti 

De nece concivis; sed loris Boso reductis 

Raptus in Hesperios, vibrata traicit hasta 

fnsignem juvenem Fabia de gente creatuni. 

Quod cum Carnoti consul videt, invidet ejus 

Actis, et versa facie se mittit in hostes ; 

Et feriens ticium qui proximus obviat illi, 

Deicit a sella letali vulnere lesum. 

Imminet a tergo Galgano Mucius; illum 

Galganus perimens, a corpore dividit ejus 3730 

Et caput et galeam ; dicit quoque Quintiliano : 

" Junctus in inferno Britones linguaque manuque 

Esse probos te teste proba, reprobosque probato " 

Ytalicos sociosque duos hortatur et inquit : 

" Invicti proceres, mecum properate, Quirites 



136 GESTA REGUM BRITANKIjE. 

Sternite. " Semimares properant, sternuntquc propinquos, 

Quisque suum ; propere victores inde recedunt. 

Vallis opaca jacet, nemoroso robore densa : 

Hic latitant Britonum sex milia, qui sociorum 

Adventum expectant; sociis fugientibus, illuc 3740 

Consociantur eis, et in hostes consociati 

Insultum faciunt. In primo mille Quirites 

Conflictu pereunt, capiuntur mille; fugatur 

Cetera pars, donec Petroius cum pluribus illis 

Venit in auxiliuni, ducens bis quinque virorum 

Milia, qui Britones retro dare cogit habenas 

Et remeare citis ad silvam gressibus, unde 

Exierant. Nemoris ingressus obice finno 

Armorum servant, incurrentique resistunt 

Impetui, sternuntque suos viriliter hostes. 3750 

Filius Ennuti mire probitatis Ydernus 

Quinque milia equitum, sociis fugientibus, hostes 

Ducit in auxilium. Sociis audacia crescit. 

Qui roodo lerga dabant, dant pectora mutua partes. 

Vulnera dant stragemque parem ; sed caucius instant 

Aut fugiunt Lacii. Quem dux instruit illos 

Nunc dare terga fuge, nunc impugnare rebelles; 

At Britones sine lege ruunt, nec vincere tanto 

Affectu captant quanta probitate probari : 

Inde fit ut passim graviore strage prematur. 3760 

Quod cum Bosoni compertum est, convocat 

Sejungitque viros fortes quos noverat acres 

Milicieque avidos, et talia disserit illis : 

" Magnanimi juvcnes, sine nutu regis inimus 

Presens certamen. Si nos contingat in isto 



LIBER OCTAVCS. 137 

Devinci bello, quod abhominor, improbitatis 

Arguet Arturus victos, et senciet inde 

Dampna sue partis, necnon audacia crescet 

Agminis Ytalici nostris in parte subactis ; 

Sed via nulla patet per quam victoria nobis 3770 

Plauserit arridens, nisi capto sive perempto 

Consule Petreio. Rumpentes ergo catervas 

Romane gentis, illum capiamus, et omnes 

Committent sua terga fuge. " Paretur, in ipsum 

Incurrunt, capitur, captumque per agmen amicum 

Ducit eum Boso. Concurrunt iude Quirites 

Ejus in uuxiliuro, Britonum conserta resistunt 

Agmina Romanis ; clamor, turbacio, cedes 

Et strepitus fiunt. Illic apparet aperte 

Quis telo, vel quis gladio bene pugnat utrinque. 3780 

Acephali tandem Lacii, capto duce, campum 

Destituunt; Britoncs cedencia terga cruentant, 

Prosternunt, spoliant, capiunt, captosque ligatus 

Presentant regi. Rex, lete gaudia mentis 

Vix rctinens, donat victores divite dono. 

Inde Cador, Beduer, Borelius, Richeriusquc, 

Innumeriquc alii quibus isti bis duo presuut, 

Parisius ducunt captivos rege jubente. 

Lucius id meditans tria milia quinque virorum 

Eligit, et reges Sirie Libiesque, duosque 3790 

Quos decorant fasces, illis proponit, cosque 

Mittit in occursum missorum regis in atre 

Noctis secreto. Latitant in valle, suosque 

Expectant hostes. Veniunt, captosque Britanni 

Adducunt Lacios, quos vallis clausefat atra. 



1.18 GtST* BEGUM OIITINMX. 

Emcrguut hostes. Subito pcrcussa pavore 
Vis bene lcla capit, vii ponit in ordine tunuas, 
Itegis missa cohors; taraen est divisa, duasquc 
Scinditur in partes : uuam que pugnet, et unam 
Que captos servet. Servati preficiuntur 
Richerius, Beduer, pngnat ct Cornubiensis 
Dui Cador et consul Borellos; sed Laciorum 
Tunna fureus sine lege ruit, sternitque Brilannos. 
Tum dispoDunlur in turmas agmina regis. 
Dcsperant, ceduntque fere, cum dux Aquitanus 
Coraperit insidias, et secum ducit in hostes 
Guitardus ter miilc viros ad bella paratos, 
Cuin quibus admi.tti Britones Roraana repelluut 
Agmina; sed multos in primo raarte suorum 
Amittunt. Borellus obit perimente Syrorum 
Itcge illum ; dat lerga fuge Romana juveutus, 
Et fugiens repetit tentoria. Vulnere cesa. 
Terga gerens, percussus obit Vulcheius, et rcx 
Evander Siricus ; occumbuttt et capiuntur 
Quos fuga non redimit. Plaudit victoria nostris. 
1'arisius primo mittunt, captosque secundo 
Ad regem ducunt. A pancis tot superati 
Prcstant Arturo Romanos spem superandi. 
Lucius attouitus, audita strage suorum, 
Quid faciat dubitat, pugnet, cedatveBrilanuis; 
Eligit ut cedat, dum possit habere Leonis 
Principis auxilium : movet ergo castra sequenti 
Nocte; locora querens totum sibi, Legrias intrat. 
Tomperit Arturus Lacios fugisse, fugamque 
'revenil illoruin ; disponit in ordine turraas, 



LIBEB OCTAVTS. 139 

Ilortaturque saos, et talia disserit illis : 

" Participes operum que gessi, carmine digna, 

Quorum consilio, quorum virtute subegi 

Tot mundi partes, quibus omnis se movet orbis, 

Ecce dics optata venit qua Roma securi 3830 

Nostre colla dabit, pcriisse tributa pigebit. 

Cum dare cogetur, nobis eterna petatur 

Libertas gladiis ; sit servus degener omnis, 

Cui sua languebit furiendo dextera; quem nou 

Terrebit numerus, pius est, et criminis expers, 

Qui, ne servicium subeat, desevit in hostes. 

" Lucius et Lacii totam sibi spem remeandi 
In turpem posuere fugam, nostra arma timentes ; 
Legrias intrarunt; ne summo mane fugaces 
Alpinos montes repetant, precessimus ilios. 3840 

Huc veniente dic venient, capiemur inermes 
lllos armati, vel delruncabimur ense. 
Pugna tamen nostris erit instans dissona gestis ; 
Nam nicbii obscure, nichil egimus insidiose. 
Cuncta palam, claroquc die, nil noctc gereudum 
Duximus. Ytalici semper fraudesque dolosque 
Moliri norunt : non est, me judice, culpa 
Fallere fallaces, fraudemque repellere fraude. 
Vincamus victos, modica est laus ista triumphi, 
Magna tamen merces : presens certamen ab ortu 3850 

Solis ad occasum totum mihi subjugat orbem ; 
Subjugat et vobis. Tantum victoris habere 
Nomen amo ; vobis urbes, castella, domosque 
Et viilas et opes et cetera comoda trado. " 

Vix ea finierat, et concita concio tota 



140 GESTA RECCM BniTANNI £. 

Arma pctit, dampnatque moras, bellumque rcquirit 

Vocibus et votis; jam nondum marte subacto, 

Non eciam cepto, victores esse vidcntur. 

Insidiis igitur compertis Lucius istis, 

Nil opus esse fuga sibi credens, convocat ad se 3860 

Hortaturque suos et talia verba profatur : 

" proceres quibus est Romana potencia curel 

Obsecro, vestrorum meraores estote parentum, 

Qui ne Romanum sevo subcumberet hosti 

Imperium, proprium minime renuere cruorem 

Fundere; et exemplum probitatis postcritati 

Forte relinquentes, Romam sibi proposuere, 

Sepius assueti quam vinci vincere, nostrum 

Jus augmentarunt; quorum Respublica sempcr 

Consilio crevit, quorum virtute Quirino 3870 

Subditus imperio servit quadrangulus orbis. 

Vos igitur moneo, vos deprecor, aucta parentum 

Sanguine vestrorum defendite jura; Quirini 

Culminis et Britones invadite vindice ferro, 

Qui soli nostrum de cunctis quos habet orbis 

Erecta cervice statum pervertere curant. " 

Vix dictis finem dederat cum turba senatus 

Et regum, cetusque ducum, procerumque cohortes, 

Jurando dicunt quod pristina jura tuentes 

Urbis Romulee que toti presidet orbi, 3880 

Non metuent mortem subeundo perdere vitam ; 

Attamen in vultu tam principis ista jubentis 

Quam promittendum firma hec promissa potentum, 

De facili potuit belli pars victa notari. 

Protinus armantur omnes, urbemque relinquunt, 



LIBEB OCTATUS. 141 

Ad vallem tendunt, ubi rex expectat eorum 
Forti mente fugam, sese pars utraque cernit. 
Quis furor, o fortes! pro regno deperituro 
Perdere perpetuum regnum? perdetis utrumque 
Excedcndo modum. Contenta Britannia fine 3890 

Debuit esse suo. Potuit quoque Roma tributum 
Quod petit injuste non exegisse; sed hostes 
Humani generis cui fas, rectumque fidemque 
Esse nephas constat, quem turbant tempora pacis, 
Partibus arma parat, permittit utraque triumphum. 
Nec curat quam letificet victoria partem, 
Qui princeps, qui principium, qui causa malorum 
Seminat insidias, odium parit, excitat urbem, 
Dissolvit leges, nodos denodat amorum ; 
Suppliciumque suum est hominum benefacta viderc 3900 

Successusque, bonis et derogal invidus actis. 
Et quamvis sedem nusquam est aditurus eamdem, 
Quam miser amisit, tamen odit et impedit omnes 
Quos optare videt in eadem sede sedere. 
Qui didicit, doctrice phisi, quo fallere possit 
Corde dolo cicius, sunt qui contagia vitant 
Illicite Veneris; fatuis tamen efficit illos 
Virginibus similes. Alii sunt non violenti, 
Non fures, non falsidici; tamen inficit iilos 
Crimen avaricie, quod ct est cultura deorum. 3910 

Est alius, qui pauperibus dispergit habunde 
Plurima; sed tantum sibi colligit inde favorcm 
Humane laudis, et prodit rem meritumque. 
Exornant alios facundia, lingua diserta, 
Larga manus, facies illustris, dextera fortis, 



142 GESTA BEGUII BRITANNIiE. 

Virtutesque alie ; sed sola superbia cunctas 
Suffbcat. In Britones Lacios hec unica movit. 



GESTORUM REGUM BRITANNLE 



LIBER NONUS. 



Incipit nonus liber. 

Nonus agit bellura. Victoria, Cesare ceso, 
Arturo cedit. Nova narrat fama Modredum 
Arturi violasse thorum : regreditur crgo 3920 

' ln patriam. Precludit iter redeuntis adulter : 
Hec causa est virtusque necis. Successor eorum 
Est Constantinus. Sequitur Conanu3 cundem, 
Illum Vortiporus, bunc Malgo, Carecius illum. 
Discidium civile furit, legacio Romc 
Despicitur, rcgale datur sceptrum Caduano. 
Filius ejus eum sequitur Caduallo parentem. 

Visibus humanis, premissa nocte, cometes 
Luciferum capud exeruit, tot regibus omen 
Triste; striges et noctis aves cecinere propinquas 3930 

Tot procerum strages, ululantum rixa luporum 
Latratusquc canum ; respondensque omnibus Echo 
Incussere metum cunctis. Aurora maritum 
Decrepitum fugiens, confuso sanguine vultu, 
Obtusis radiis lacrimisque fluentibus orta, 
Prestitit instantis prcsagia certa ruine. 
Surgit ab Eois solito maturius horis 
Phebus; ct ut vidit acies et bella parata, 



144 GESTA BEGUX BR1TANNI£. 

Pallidas et tristis et languens lumine torvo 

Induxil sub nube caput, radiosque reduxit, 3940 

Ne videat tot fata ducum, tot funera regum. 

Dispositis igitur Laciis hinc, inde Britannis, 
In medium Bellona venit, gladiosque ministrat 
Telaque militibus. Par est affectus eorum, 
Et dispar numerus : numero Romana caterva 
Excedit Britones, illam virtute Britanni. 
Ecce ruunt partis acies utriusque tumultus, 
Et fragor armorum ; strepitus et clangor ct Echo 
Omnia confuse roboant, (inguntque supremum 
Advenisse diem. Rediisse elementa putares 3950 

In chaos antiquum, rerum compage soluta. 
Auguselus fortisque Cador, dux Cornubieusis, 
Agmen commissnm precedunt. Obviat illis 
Cum sibi commissa sibi legione Catellus, 
Hesperiosque suos secum convertit; at illi 
Hostibus obsistunt. Dant vulnera mutua partes ; 
Ex collisura gladiorum flamma coruscat. 
Inde Gerinus adest, et Boso cum legione ; 
Cui presunt, stantes ineunt, rumpuntque cohortes ; 
Parthorumque petunt regem, qui impugnat Achillem, 3960 

Regem Dacorum. Furit illic Daca bipennis. 
Bachantur gladiis, nullius dextera torpet 
Stantis in interitum partis. Pars altera certat, 
Utraque pars patitur et agit; sed strage premuntur 
Majori Britones. Beduer picerna peremptus 
Occidit, et Keyus letali saucius ictu ; 
Nam cum pugnaret Beduer cum rege Medorum, 
Occumbit gladio. Cujus miserabile letum 



LIBEB NONUS. 145 

Dum vult uscisci (sic), Keins sub pectore vulnus 

Letiferum recipit; Libies tamen agmina regis 3970 

Irrumpens, socii transfert exangue cadaver 

Ad vultum Arturi, non multum longius illo 

Victurus. Luctus oritur per castra dolorque 

Et clamor; sed eos instans certaminis hora 

Non patitur lugere diu ; sed fortis Hyrelglas, 

Strenuus ille nepos Bedueri, tristis et amens 

Ob mortem patrui, juvenes in marte feroces 

Eligit, et secum ducens in bello treccntos, 

Vexillum regis Medie pelit, impetit ense, 

Regem prosternit, perimit ducitque peremptum 3980 

Ad patrui corpus, totumque in frusta recidit, 

Et monet inde suos invadere fortiter hostes. 

Invadunt sternuntque viros, sternuntur et ipsi. 

Rex cadit Hyspanis, occumbit rex Babylonis, 

Totque senatores et plurima turba virorum 

Corrnit ex Laciis. Ex nostris sunt duo reges 

Tresque duces cesi, quorum dant agmina terga 

Versa fuge, cesis dominis; et regis Hoeli 

Galganique ducis comitatum concomitantur. 

Orba cohors dominis se copulat Armoricanis, 3990 

Et simul arma gerunt, simul instant. Turba Quiritum 

Ante fugans dat terga fuge, que non fugiebat. 

Pars Britonum fugat Hesperios, lacerantque catervas. 

Ense viam faciente, viri conamine toto 

Ad turmam tendunt, ubi Cesar Lucius asfot. 

Qui simul aspexit sociorum fata suorum, 

Inmodice motus medios se mittit in hostes. 

Tunc oritur clamor et lamentabile bellum. 

10 



146 GESTl EEGCM BBITANNIJE. 

Mille cadunt Britonum, perimuntur mille Quiritum. 

Laudibus insignes, rex Armoricanus Hoelus 4000 

Et dux Galganus, quorum quis forcior armis 

Aut quis sit major non est depromere promptum, 

Precedunt cuneos, gladiis secantibus, hostes. 

Cesaris irrumpunt cuneum, nullumque virorum 

Formidant numerum. Pereunt, perimentibus illis, 

Mille viri; per rura vage ruit unda cruoris. 

Porro Galganus, quo nil ardencius obstat, 

Cesaris impetui velox, velocis ad instar 

Fluminis, occurrit, et eum stricto impetit ense. 

Lucius exultat, quia cum tam milite forti, 4010 

Cum tam magnanimo potuit certamen inire. 

Ambo pares etate, pari probitate chorusci, 

Viribus equales, equali mente superbi, 

Mutua bella gerunt, crebros dant ensibus ictus. 

Alter in alterius dispendia mortis inhelat, 

Cum Romana cohors accedit, et Armoricanos 

Cogit ad Arturum festino tendere gressu. 

Arturus succurrit eis, dicitque : " Fideles 

Et fortes socii, mecum properate, Quirinos 

Sternite semimares, titulisque adjungite nostris. " 4020 

Parent ; apparet cui mens adquirere laudem, 

Incurrendo necem ; regem precedere malunt 

Quam vincendo sequi. Rex extracto Caliburno, 

Irruit in Lacios, sternit ceditque facitque 

Ense viam ; quemcumquc semel ferit, ad Stiga mittit. 

Sternit equos equitesque simul. Veluti Jovis ales 

Dispergit volucres, veluti leo nobilis ire, 

Quem stimulat jejuna fames et ventris inanis, 



LIBEB NOKCS. 147 

Ingluvie pellente rapax, avidusque cruoris, 

Se gerit in tauros, rapit hos et dissipat illos, 4030 

Sic in Romanos desevit marcius heros. 

Ecce duo reges, fato rapiente sinistro, 

Arturi simul ense cadunt; quemcumque vel hasta 

Sauciat aut gladio, vitam cum sanguine fundunt. 

Excitat Arturus Britones, Cesarque Quirites 

Ad bene pugnandum. Pugnant quandoque Quirites, 

Excellunt Britones, illos quandoque Britanni. 

Dum sic ambigitur cui faverit alea Martis, 

Claudiocestrensis consul Morindus in hosles 

Cum legione sua ruit, irrumpitque cohortes 4040 

Cesaris, a dorso veniens, nil tale timentis. 

Lucius imperio cedit, percussus in imo 

Pectore letifere Morindi cuspidis ictu. 

Desperant Lacii nec cessant, Cesare ceso, 

Cedere cedenti, donec victoria cessit 

Brutigenis, victrixque tulit pars omnia victe. 

Inde suos proceres in eodem marte peremptos 

Separat a Laciis Britonum rex, et sepeliri 

Mandat honorifice, ncc non et corpora condi 

In tumulis Romana jubet ictu Laciorum, 4050 

Cesareumque facit portari corpus ad urbem 

Romuleam, patribus sed vectigale petito. 

Ponderat in Libra sol tempora pondere justo 

Equatum cum nocte diem, cum victor ad urbes 

Allobrogum tendit, et eas sibi subjugat illic. 

Expectat dum cedat hyemps, et dampna diei 

Restituens Aries nocturnas subtrahat horas, 

Ut, nive cessante, cum prima volarit hyrundo, 



148 GBSTA EEGCM BBITANRIJS. 

Transvolet alpinos cum multo milite montes 

Ytaliamque sibi Romamque, dolentc seuatu, 4060 

Subdat, et imperii moderetur frena subacti. 

Sed Deus opposuit tantis sua numina votis; 
Nam violasse thorum regis, regnique Britanni 
Usurpasse sibi sumptum diadema Modredum, 
Fama refert, minime justum, minimeque fideiem. 
In sibi commissis auditis anxius istis, 
Gallorum curam regi committit Hoelo ; 
Inque suum regnum, cum regibus insulularum, 
Occeani pede retrogrado terras equora tendit. 
At rex intrusus, sceleris temcrarius auctor, 4070 

Fedus init cum Saxonicis, et tradit eisdem 
Plagam illam regni ; fluvioque distat ab Humbro 
Ad Scotos populos, et quas Engistus et Horsus 
Sub Vortigerno terras tenuerc. Cbericus 
Dux octogentas, Euro impellente, carinas 
Plenas paganis populis armisque Modredo 
Ducit in auxilium. Modredus convocat omnes 
Vicinos quos ejus babebat avunculus hostes, 
Et venit ad Rutupi portum cum multiplicato 
Agmine pagane gentis populique fidelis. 4080 

Occurrens Arturus eis se mittit in illos. 
Miile cadunt utrinque viri, cadit inclitus ille 
Galganus, cadit Auguselus rex Scoticus; ejus 
Yvenus fratris Uriani filius, illum 
In regnum sequitur, fortem fortissimus heros. 
Arturus, tandem magna vi litus adeptus, 
Modredum cuneosque suos ostendere terga 
Cogit, inhonestas cedes in terga gerentes. 



LIBEA NONUS. 149 

Impius inde fugit ct tendit nocte scquenti 
Wintoniam. Regina subit venerabile templum, 4090 

Virgineoque choro se conserit, et vidualem 
Assumit vitam, viduam mentita; duobus 
Nupta tamen, vivisque viris incesta secundi. 
At rez Arturus, quia tot cecidere suorum 
Anxius et tristis, defuncta cadavera condit 
Vestigatque suos, aquila velocior, hostes, 
Wintoniamque petit, et eam regemque Modredum 
Obsidet. Egressus cicius Modredus ab urbe 
Tendit in Arturum. Quot ibi pars utraque fortes 
Amiserit, mandare stilo non est breve. Tandem 4100 

Destituit campum pars perfida, victa recedit; 
Cornubiamque adiens dispersa recolligit illic 
Agmina, et expectant regem proceresque sequentes. 
Currit harenosus eterno Canibula cursu. 
Undique conveniunt illuc, et bella minantur 
Intestina sibi, fraterno federe fracto. 
In jugulum fratris intendit frater, anhelat 
Filius in patrem ; victa pietate paterna, 
Inminet exicio nati pater : omnia jura 
Nature confosa jacent, concessa videntur 4110 

Fasque nephasque simul, gladio dum vincere captat. 
Qui fera tela tenet, non curat quid sit honestum ; 
Esse tamen constat merore molestius omni 
Et nece deterius, quod tanta licencia ferri 
Sit data paganis in Christi dilanianda 
Membra. Modrede, tuum facinus, populique Britanni 
Dedecus eternum, miser et miserande, misertus 
Esto tni, miserere tuis. Tibi federa nnlla 



150 GESTA REGCM BRITAN1U£. 

Sint cum Saxonibus; nam rem cum nomine dueunt 

Saxones a saxis, quibus hii sunt asperiores 4120 

Austerique magis. Hostes exclude malignos, 

Teque reconcilia regi regnoque tuisque. 

Peccasti, te peniteat; tibi parcior hostis 

Rex erit Arturus quam Saxones. Ille laborat, 

Armaque justa gerit pro libertatc tuorum. 

Illi nituntur, et votis omnibus optant 

Ut subeas servile jugum; nescisque quod olim 

Fecerat Engistus genero socer impius? Illi 

Eripuit regnum. Manet ardor in omnibus idem : 

Ejusdem generis te proles prodiciosa 4130 

Prodere molitur. Dum res sinit ipsa, rcsiste ; 

Sed quia regnandi te tangit tanta cupido, 

Cedere te regi vetat angelus ambicionis; 

Et memor ipse sui casus causeque ruiue, 

Consimile capiens te crimine tollit in altum, 

Ut te deiciat lapsum graviore ruina. 

Ecce tui sceleris celer et fortissimus ultor, 

Cum virtute venit ut Saxones obruat armis, 

Quos tociens domuit et ab hac regione fugavit, 

Cujus virtutem quadrangulus orbis obhorret. .4140 

Wallia servit ei, famulatur Hjbernia victa, 

Scocia subicitur, Illandria mitis obedit, 

Norguegia assurgit, subcumbit Dacia, cedit 

Francia, Roma fere facta est proviucia, ceso 

Cesare; vectigal promittit solis ab ortu, 

Regibus orbatus, orbis se sponte daturum 

Ad gelidas Alpes, populumque subjacet artho. 

Causa duplex trepidare facit quos torrida torret ; 



LIBEH KONUS. 151 

Artori terrore tremunt. Hyspania pacem 

Postulat et veniaui poscit; quicumque superbe 4150 

Contradicit ei, se dampnat, seque reatus 

Heprobat esse reum nec dignum ducere vitam. 

miser! victure parum, quis te trahit error 

Ut superare putes cum paucis hostibus illum 

Quem totus metuit mundus, quem totus obhorret 

Autipodum populus, cui mortis causa, propheta 

Merlino testante, via est, si credimus illi? 

Sed quod fatorum contra decreta venire 

Nulli permissum est, ad bellum tendit uterque. 

Ante datum fatis, acies disponit uterquc. 4160 

Modredus statuit tres turmas ei legionem 

Qualibus in turma ponit; sibi sex legiones 

Servat, et observant ipsum. Sublimis aperta 

Voce suos socios exhortans, sic ait illis : 

" juvenes fortesque viri, prosternite mecum 
Emeritos paucosque senes, quos longa malorum 
Debilitat series, vesterque possidet hostis. 
Assigno vobis urbes, castella domosque. " 
Agmina vero novem, totidem commissa magistris, 
Ordinat Arturus, et eis hoc ordine dicit : 4170 

" procerum generosa cohors! munere quorum 
Me metuit mundus, quornm belloque togaque 
Consilio fretus domui tot climata mundi ! 
Ecce phalanx perjura, vage loca congrua querens, 
Cornubiam peciit; nec habens quo prodeat ultra, 
Kestat ibi, de se desperans, cunctaque relinquit 
Arbitrio fati. Laus est et fama perhennis 
Tot simul a paucis superari, nec labor ingens. 



152 GESTA HEGCM BBITANNIJE. 

Adde qood arma gerunt contra rectamque piumque, 

Non veriti temerare fidem patrumque statuta. 4180 

Nos pia causa movet patriam defendere nostram. 

Quis putet in bello stabiles dominoque fideles 

Saxones empticios, pro munere castra sequentes? 

Cura clangor lituum, yoces, hynitus equorum, 

Cum fragor armorum, strepitus resonabilis Echo, 

Ingeminans voces, irruperit aera, viles 

Terga dabunt conducticii, campumque relinquent. " 

Nec mora, concurrunt acies, tantoque fragore 
Aer concutitur, quantus lieret resolutis 
Iu Chaos antiquum celo terraque marique. 4190 

In primo belli conflictu, mille sagittis, 
Mille cadunt jaculis. Gladiis, seges alta virorum, 
Secta jacent membra. Late ruit unda cruoris 
Et fluit in fluvium. Naturam Canibula fontis 
Mutatam stupet esse sui ; transcendit inundans 
Sanguineus torrens ripas, et ducit in equor 
Corpora cesorum. Plures natare videres 
Et petere auxilium, quos nondum vita relinquit. 

Dum stat in ambiguo cui parti gloria laudis 
Cesserit, ecce ruit Arturus cum lcgione 4200 

Quam sibi servarat, illuc ubi stare Modredum 
Conspicit, et tendit, gladio ductore, per hostes. 
A dextra levaque cadunt quos enumerare 
Non est in promptu ; cadit auctor prodicionis 
Causaque Modredus. Tamen agmina prodiciosi 
Ccso non cedunt domino, sed fortiter instant; 
Et sternunt Britones, necnon sternuntur ab illis. 
Agmina cuncta fere pereunt, regesque duccsque, 



LIAER NONUS. 153 

Vivo tamen rege, cui mortis janua clausu 

Creditur Arturo. Stat et hic, in pectore vulnus 4210 

Letiferum gestans ; regni diadema Britanni 

Dat Constantino genito genitore Cadore. 

Cingitur Occeano memorabilis insula, nullis 
Desolata bonis : non frtr y non predo nec hostis 
Jusidiatur ibi ; non nix, non bruma nec cstas 
Iiimoderata furit; pax et concordia perpes, 
Ver tepet eternum. Nec flos nec lilia desunt, 
Nec rosa nec viole ; flores et poma sub una 
Fronde gerit pomus ; habitant sine labe pudoris 
Semper ibi juvenis cum virgine. Nulla senectus 4220 

Nullaque vis morbi, nullus dolor; omnia plena 
Leticie; proprium nichil hic, communia queque. 

Regia virgo locis et rebus presidet istis, 
Virginibus stipata suis pulcherrima pulchris 
Nimpha, decens vultu, generosis patribus orta, 
Consilio pollens, medicine nobilis arte. 

Que, simul Arturus regni diadema reliquit 

Substituitque sibi regem, se transtulit iiluc 

Anno quingeno quadragenoque secundo 

Post incarnatum sine patris seminc Verbum. 4230 

Immodice lesus Arturus tendit ad aulam 

Regis Avallonis, ubi virgo regia vulnus 

Illius tractans, sanati membra reservat 

Ipsa sibi; vivuntque simul, si credere fas cst. 

Inde duo fratres, Modredi perfida proles, 
In Constantinum convertunt. Ille feroci 
Mente resistit eis, et eos ostendere terga 
Versa fuge cogit. Fratrum fugit unus ad urbem 



154 GESTA REGCM BIIITA >1S I £. 

Londouiam, fugit Eboracuin pcrtcrritus alter. 

Quos rex insequitur et eos interficit infra 4240 

Ecclesias, aliosque soos exterminat hostes. 

Iude tribus regnnm rexit feliciter annis. 

Ense nepotis obit Conani, qui tamen illi 

Succedit; juvenis mire probitatis, in ipso 

Subjecti dignus regni diademate, si nou 

Esse videretur belli civilis amator; 

Nam Constantini fratrem, qui proximus illi 

Post ejus mortem succedere debuit, ense 

luterimit, parvosque duos quos ille crearat, 

Desistitque anno regni regnare secundo. 4250 

Vortiporus succedit ei, qucm Saxones armis 
lufestant; sed eos eliminat. Inde quieta 
Pace frui Britones ceperunt quatuor aunis. 
Hege dato fatis Malgo, succedit eidem 
Deftensor patrie, largus dator, hostibus hostis, 
Ore decens, membris robustus, corpore magnus ; 
Scd tamen has omnes virtutes unica labes 
Aduichilat penitus, cujus narratio nares 
Offendit Domini, penctratque ad sidera fetor. 
Qui simul Occeani superavit sex regiones, 426O 

Dc medio sublatus adit vel culmina celi, 
Vcl sedes Herebi, mediumve quod omnia purgat, 
Que recipit proprioque loco purgata remittit. 

Inde sibi sumit diadema Carecius, hostis 
Justicie, patrie populator, amator iniquus 
Nequicie, venie contemptor, segnis in hostes 
Inquc suos sevus, civilia prelia captans. 
Quo regnaute venit rex Aflricus, innumerasque 



LIBER KOrtCS. 155 

Godmundus naves adducens, intrat Hybernas 

Ut superat fines. Cui Saxones, impia turbn, 4270 

Se sociant, veniuntque simul cum fortibus aruiis 

Iu Britones, bellumque movent, regnumque lacescuut 

Ignibus et ferro ; nec eis obstare Britanni 

Sufficiunt. Quem civilia bella moventes 

Hostibus indulgent, hostes regemque suumque 

Infestant, timidosque fugant, perimuntque fugatos. 

Alma cobors cleri, sanctorom corpora gestans, 

Ecclesias, reditusque suos, patriamque reliquit. 

Occupat extera gens partem misere regionis, 

Et partem retinent Britones sibi. Rege Britanno i*80 

Terra diu caruit, et Saxones instituerunt 

Tres simul aut plures reges sibi ; sed diuturna 

Pace frui nequeunt, nam se quandoque cruentis 

Infestant armis, et eos quandoque Britanni. 

Huc Augustinum, meritis et nomine clarum, 

Gregorius presul Romanus mittit, ut Anglos 

Convertat doceatque fidem preceptaque Christi. 

Ecclesias igitur Britonum legatus et urbes 

Visitat, et sanctum semen disseminat illis. 

Septem presulibus atque archipresule gaudet 1290 

Pars Britonum et multis abbatibus, et monachorum 

Cetibus innumeris, cleroque, Deoque dicatis 

Virginibus, quos sanctus adit legatus ; et iilis 

Accitis inquit : " Britones, nos dirigit ad vos 

Roma, caput rerum, cui vos debetis honorem, 

Ut, vestra pariter ope freti, verba salutis 

Catholicamque fidem perversos edoceamus 

Saxonicos, gratosque Deo reddamus eosdem. 



156 GBSTl BFCCM BRITARNIJE. 

Inde cst quod vobis mandamus prccipientes, 

Summo pontifici subjecti more priorum, 4300 

Exhibeatis opem nobis ad restituendum 

Anglos ecclesie. Si sollicitudinis hujus 

Participes sitis, eritis simul et meritorum. " 

Urbs antiqua fuit cui nomen Bangor : in illa 
Claustrales monachi degunt abbate sub uno 
Nomine Dyonotes, qui quanto Cintia soli 
Cedit, et excedit eadem fulgore Bootem, 
Tanto precedit vicinos celibe vita, 
Artibus ingenuis, laudandis moribus, ore 
Facundo, sancta doctrina, religione. 4310 

Hlc ferens commissa sibi responsa suorum, 
Exponit sancto legato, sicque subinfert : 
" Sancte vir, admiror te nobis obvia juri 
Precepisse duo statui non congrua nostro. 
Quis, nisi mentis inops, inimicis predicet, aut quis 
Libertate fruens domino se subdere querat? 
Ortus et Occasus invisos esse Britannis 
Suxones agnorunt, ut quos feritate maligna 
Subplantare volunt, hostilis sermo placere 
Non solet, immo suos pervertit et obstruit hostes. 4320 

Preterca Britonum gens libera ferre recusat 
Obsequium cuiquam legato, more priorum. 
Presulibus subjecta suis a tempore longo 
Esse sui juris consuevit nostra propago. " 
Dixit, et Anglorum reges audita molestant, 
Et minis offendunt cleri responsa Britanni. 
Unde ineunt Britones, et eorum funditus urbes 
Vi delere student, nulla pietate reducti. 



LIBEB NOflUS. 157 

Cingitur innamero Legecestria Saxone. Clausi, 

Missilibus saxisque suos defenderc muros 4330 

Graviter intendunt. Prosternere fortiter Angli 

Ad terram properant muri munimina. Tandem 

Urbs capitur; pereunt cives, discrimine nullo, 

Insontes sontesque simul; sacratus apertis 

Arva rigat jugulis cleri cruor ; hostia celi 

Tota patent valvis adapertis hostica; Christo 

Hostia grata placet, non sacrificantis amore, 

Sed quia membra sibi capiti conforma gaudet 

Conseruisse Deus. quam admirabile bcllum 

Est ubi qui patitur reputatur victor, et ille 4340 

Qui vincit victus ! Cedit victoria ceso, 

Cedit cesori confusio, cesus ad astra, 

Cesor ad infernum post cursum tendit agonis. 

Dum sibi congaudent capta Six Saxones urbe, 
Ecce duces Britonum collatis fortiter armis 
Invadunt Anglos. Adversa fronte resistit 
Hostilis rabies. Post multum vero cruoris 
Undique diffusi, campum pagana relinquunt 
Agmina, Christicole pociuntur honore triumphi. 
Inde sibi Britones Caduanum, corpore magnum, 4350 

Viribus indomitum, sapientem, mente ferocem, 
Preficiunt regem. Novus ergo rex fugientes 
Anglos insequitur, Britonum comitantibus ipsum 
Civibus innumeris. Quos cum prope novit adesse, 
Rex Elfredus velociter excitat omnes 
Anglorum reges ; ope quorum tutus, in hostes 
Tendit, dispositis turmis utriusque cohortis. 
Consilio procerum ducuntur ad oscula pacis 



158 GESTl HEGCII BBITAN1U£. 

Reges, inter eos firmato federe tali 

Insula dividitur : Caduano cedit ab Humbro 4360 

In Zephirum; cedit Anglo pars cetera regi. 

Nec raora, mirus amor reges connectit, ut ipsos 

Non {antum socios, sed fratres esse putares. 

Interea, propria deserta conjuge, ducit 

Hex Eldelfredus aliam. Deserta recurrens 

Occius ad regem Caduanum, supplicat illi 

Ul sibi pacificet regem ; quod cum nequit, illam 

Tractat honorifice propria cum conjuge, donec 

Utraque parturiat. Utcro gerit utraque prolem, 

Parturiunt parvos. Desertc nascitur infans, 4370 

Edwinus ei nomen datur, et Caduano 

Nascitur ex propria Caduallo conjuge; nati 

Nutritique simul, missi simul ad Salomonem, 

Armorice regem, simul edocti rudimenta, 

Illic milicie mira probitate coruscant ; 

Defunctis patribus patrum diademata sumunt. 

Nodus amicicie qui patres vinxerat, idem 

Vincit eos, et par concordia parque voluntas ; 

Sed quam brevis esse solet concordia regni 

Ejusdem dominis, fidei Caduallo resolvit 4380 

Funiculum veteris, et amoris federa rumpit. 

Et paris impaciens regni tocius habere 

Dum parat, amittit regni tocius habenas ; 

Nam Caduallonem dum postulat ore doloso 

Rex Edwinus ut eum permittat in ejus 

Regno, more suo, patrie diis sacrificare, 

Imposito capiti regis diademate, dumque 

Consulit ipse suos quid ad id respondeat, ipse 



liber nonus. 159 

In gremio cari declinat forte Briani 

Rex Caduallo caput, cujus barbamquc comamqne 4390 

Irrigat effuso lacrimarum fonte Brianus. 
Rex ratus est pluvie gutas cecidisse, suamque 
Irrorasse comam, cum tollens lumina cernit 
Ex oculis cari lacrimas fluitasse nepotis. 
Querenti causas fletus respondit : " Oportct 
Ut sine fine fleam dum sic gens extera nostras 
Enervet vires, et deroget invida vestro 
Paulatim regno, cujus pars major eidem 
In sortem cessit, nec ea contenta laborat 
Usurpasse sibi quicquid retinere videris. uoo 

An nescis quare petit Anglicus in regione 
Sacrificare tua, cum sit sua lacior? Hoc fit 
Ut postquam nactus fuerit tua predia, nostrum 
Regnum vi capiat, et nostros nosque releget. " 
Hac Caduallo, sui correptus voce nepotis, 
Quod rex Anglorum poscit negat. IUe tumenti 
Corde furens, regi scribit mandatque Britanno : 

" Rex Caduallo, scias quod ego, nolisve velisve, 
Trans Humbrum regale feram diadema, diisque 
Sacrificabo meis. " Cui sic Caduallo : " Coronam 4410 

Et caput abscidam pariter tibi, si sine nutu 
In mea jura meo te sors deducet iniqua. " 
Commoti reges, collectis viribus, in se 
Mutua bella gerunt. Caduallo transmeat Humbrum 
Cum ducibus Britonum, quibus obviat Anglicus hostis. 
Post cedes hinc inde datas, Caduallo relinquit 
Cum paucis campum, fugiensque per avia Scotos 
Preterit. Inde petit regem miserandus Hyberuum ; 



160 CESTl REGCH BBItANNI£. 

At victor Britones adit impigcr, ct regionem 

lllorum penitus ferro supponit et igni. 4420 

Collecta vero Caduallo classe reverti 

Nititur in patriam, augurio pelliti doctus Hyberni. 



GESTORUM REGUM BRITANNLE 



LIBER DECIMUS. 



fncipit decimus lilter. 

Rex fugit in deciroo; classis perit; uoica regis 
Navis aquas vencit. Infirmus carne nepotis 
Vescitur; excipitur regis Salomonis in aula. 
Inde Brianus abit. Cadit augur. Bella moventur. 
Occidit Eduinus. Convertunt Saxones in se 
Arma. Bonis cedit Caduallo ; filius ejus 
Regnat, et excludit Anglos. Civilia bella 
Exercent Britones ; perimuntur peste, relinquunt 4430 

Regnum. Saxonici redeunt. Rex sanctificatur. 
Ivo redit, bellumque movet, nec prevalet hosti. 

Spes regni reditusque sui rerumque relinquit 
Regem ; desperans ad opem tendit Salomonis, 
Armorice regis, et, lintea dans Aquiloni, 
In Zephirum rapitur. Consurgens turbidus Auster 
Commovet Occeanum; tumet equor, et horrida classem 
Plamina dispergunt. Dispersam ventus et unde 
In diversa trahunt. Nescit quas nauta sequatur, 
Aut quas vitet aquas, ncc, si sciat, imperat undis; 4440 

Nam caligo duplex noctis subiteque procelle, 

11 



162 GESTl REGCM fillITANKl£. 

Excecans oculos, vires usumque videndi 

Eripit attonitis, nisi cum collusio nubis 

Ethereos aperit aditus et fulminat ignes. 

Unda maris nimbique csdmit, daplicique carinas 

Impugnant redduntque graves aspergine ; pondus 

Naves equat undis, equatas obruit unda. 

Regia sola ratis superest, superatquc marinos 

Fluctus et flatus ventorum. Nocte fugata, 

Grata fatigatis apparent signa diei ; 4450 

Vis Austri cedit Euro, cadit bumida nubes. 

Terra patet preciucta mari. Rex applicat illuc, 
Qui post amissos socios noctisque laborem, 
Languidus et tristis, capitis mentisque dolorem 
Vix tolerare potest. Expers sompnique cibique, 
Noctibus egrotat tribus hic totidemque diebus. 
Quarto deinde die nimis esurit, atque ferinas 
Cames ardenter optat, caroque Briano 
Indicat hoc. Arcu sumpto pharetraque Brianus 
Per totam insululam discurrit; nnlla ferarum 4460 

Deprendens iilic vestigia, tangitur ira, 
Concutiturque metu, ne res optata dolorem 
Augmentet regis, cum non invenerit illam. 
miranda viri dilectio ! digna relatu 
Audituque fides ! res non audita priorum 
Temporibus ! partem femoris mucrone recisam 
Torret in igne sui; tostam ratus esse ferinam, 
Vescitur, et recipit rex vires carne recepta. 
Inde datis Euro velis, portuque relicto, 
Tendit ad Armoricani Salomonis lumina regis. 4470 

Rex adit, et narrat illi sua fata, petitque 



LIBEB DECIMCS. 163 

Auxilium. Salomon placide respondet et inquit : 
" Auxilium prestabo tibi, diademaque reddam, 
Juraque restiiuam ; sed toto pectore motus, 
Admiror doleoquc simul quod nobile regnum 
Quod nostri tenuere patres, gens extera nostris 
Occupat ejectis. A prima nacio presens 
Degenerat Britonum. Veteres genuisse modernos, 
Si sapiunt post fata, pudet. De stirpe leonum 
Egressi lepores ; nam de stirpe gygantum 4480 

Gens tua Saxonibus cessit, regnumque relinquit 
Quod Brutus multo terra pelagoque labore 
Quesitum, quondam nostris dimisit habendum. 
probitas laudanda patrum, culpanda moderni 
Segnicies populi 1 Bruto nostrisque subacta 
Grecia subcubuit ; Maurique, ferique pirate, 
Pictavique truces, Majorque Britannia cessit; 
Brennius et fratres Gallos urbcmque Quirini 
Subjecere sibi ; Constantinusque, beate 
Progenies Helene, necnon et Maximianus, 4490 

Imposuere jugum Laciis, et tocius orbis 
Imperium forti dextra tenuere Britanni. 
Cornubiensis aper, cujus vulgata per orbem 
Fama viget celebris, reges quos Ortus habebat 
Et quos Occasus, omnes superavit, et ipsum 
Perdidit Augustum. Veteres didicere Britanni 
Vincere nec vinci; norunt dare terga Britanni. " 
His dictis, " Sic, inquit ei Caduallo, rependo : 
Multimodas grates tibi, rex. Memor hujus amoris 
Quem pretendis ero, dum spiritus ctheriarum 4500 

Carpserit iste vias ; sed ne mirere modernos 



164 GESTA 1EGUM BEITANKI*. 

Dissimiles patribus, qneis cum Maximianus 

Venit in has partes : regioois nobiliores 

Addnxit secum, nec eis permissa facnltas 

Ulla revertendi est. Plebs rustica sola remansit, 

Propria res cujos timor est et mixta timori 

Inrevocanda foga. Non ego miror aggresles 

Quos natura premit, quamvis fortuna levarit, 

Hos in equos equites proprium retinere timorem. 

Est aliud quare mea gens pugnare recusat, 4510 

Sicut tractavit, tractatum cujus habemus, 

Hystoricos Gyldas nostri sanctissimus evi : 

Serva phalanx ditata, gulam vcneremque frequentans, 

Illam precipue per quam Dominus excitat iram 

In sobolem, cujus est diffidencia mater, 

Dissuevit bellis, nisi que Citherea rcquirit. 

Jura, fides, pietas, patrum reverencia, fratrum 

Gracia, conjogii concordia, federa pacis, 

Virtutesque alie, populumque fugere ferocem ; 

Iu quorum subiere locum violencia, furtum, 4520 

Fraus, dolus, ira, mine, civilia bella, venena, 

Census, luxurie, luxus, homicidia, scisma. 

Quos probitas probat esse probos, reprobat reproborum 

Improbitas, justosque ligans absolvit iniquum. 

Quo magis offendunt viciorum labe notati, 

Hoc magis ascendunt ad honorum summa vocati. 

Membra caputque trahunt vicium commune saccrdos 

Ut populos, dominus ut servns, rex proceresque : 

Inde ruit vindicta Dei, niveosque dracones 

Suscitat in rubeos, qui predia, castra, penates, 4530 

Flumina, stagna, lacus, afflata tabe veneni 



♦. 



LIBER DECIMCS. 165 

Cuncta cruentarunt infecerunique, fugatis 

De stagno rubeis, sicut predixerat ore 

Fatidico vates Merlinus ; sicque Britannum 

Perdidimus regnum, successeruntque feroces 

Saxones, expulsis patria de sede Britannis. 

Est igitur nostrum dampnum commune pudorque, 

Sicut communis est nostri sanguinis auctor; 

Nam Malgo, cujus de sanguine ducimus ortum, 

Quartus ab Arturo succedit ei, genuitque 4540 

Ennion et Rivum. Genuit pater Ennius Helym, 

Qui Jachonem, qui Caduanum; me Caduanus. 

At simul expulsus partes pervenit ad istas 

Rinus, virgo duci sata Rino nupsit Hoelo, 

De qua suscepit mire probatis Alanum. 

Ille tuum patrem sic nos a stipite primo, 

Quinta parentele series distinguit utrinque. " 

Interea dum sevit hyemps, Caduallo quietem 

Cum Salomone capit; sed nocte dieque Brianus 

Auguris in mortem pelliti totus hanelat. 4550 

Transmeat ergo fretum, vilique inductus amictu, 

Tendit ad Eduini regis penetrale, manentis 

Eboraci, pauperque habitu se miscet egenis 

Qui regis fragmenta petunt. Soror ergo Briani 

Egrediens, pelium ferens, limphamque ministrans, 

Agnoscit fratrem, lacrimisque rigantibus ora 

Pellitum demonstrat ei, fugiensque recedit. 

Accedens igitur in turba, stantis Hyberni 

Pectus ferrati burdonis traicit ictu. 

Ille cadit moriens, nescitur vulneris auctor. 4560 

Inde Brianus abit, et adit velociter urbem 



166 GESTA HEGLM BftlTANfllA. 

Exoniam, Britonesque suos, quos sparserat hostis, 

Congregat huc, et narrat eis que gesserat et que 

Cootigerant regi. Muris et turribus altis 

Exoniam munit; proceres sua menia firmant, 

Expectantque simnl letanti pectore regem. 

Quod simul attonitas Anglorum perculit aures, 

Insula tota fremit; venicns cum rege Peanda, 

Obsidet Exoniam fera gens, fortemque Brianum. 

Dum mangonelli diversaque machina belli 4570 

Impugnant muros, dum clausi cuncta coronant 

Edita murorum, dum telis texitur aer, 

En Caduallo venit, et secum ducit in hostes 

Mille viros decies, quos rex commiserat illi 

Armorice Salomon. Convertunt Saxones arma 

In Caduallonem. Post prelia multa Peanda 

Rex capitur, mortique datus est exercitus ejus. 

Fedus init pacis captus cum rege Britanno, 

Et se, dum juvat, persistere jurat in ejus 

Obsequium, Britonumque piam defendere causam. 458O 

Rex igitur, collectis viribus, Humbrum 
Transmeat, et gladio regnum devastat et igni. 
Saxones ergo suos ducens regesque propinquos, 
Impiger Eduinus cum milite multiplicato 
In Britones fertur. In primo marte peremptus, 
Rex cadit Eduinus; cadit Olfridus, inclitus ejus 
Filius; Orchadie rex occidit; Anglica turba 
Tota perit, nisi quos nox et fuga subtrahit hosti. 
Inde triumphator omnes de partibus illis 
Saxones evellens, nulla pietate reductus, 4590 

In cives urbesque furit, bachatur in agros, 



LIBER DECIUUS. 1 1)7 

Sevit in agrestes ; nullum suus ordo tuetur. 
Infantes matresque sue, juvcnesque senesque 
Cede pari pereunt; nulli sua proficit etas. 

Osualdus, regum sanctissimus, arma Peandc 
Dum fugeret, sociis secum fugientibus inquit : 
" devota Deo Christique domestica turba! 
Submissis manibus et supplice voce precemur 
Auctorem nostre fidei regemque polorum, 
Ut nos de manibus Britonum sevique Peande 4600 

Liberet. " Effusis lacrimis genibusque reflexis, 
Turba precatur idem. Deus audit justa petentes ; 
Nam Phebo retegente diem, capit arma Peanda 
Et capit Osualdus. In primo marte Britanni 
Devicti fugiunt. Quod rex Caduallo relatu 
Addiscens, movet arma ferox, ferturque superbus 
In sanctum regem. Sanctus rex ense superbus, 
Sanguine sacrat humum; melior pars transvolat astra. 
Osuinus, regis Osualdi frater, eundem 
In regno sequitur, et init cum rege Britanno 4610 

Fedus amicicie, regi pro federe pacis 
Inmodicas largitus opes, quas ante parentes 
Ejus servarant. Sese quoque subdidit illi 
Aufridus. Osualdi fratrisque sui Josualdus 
Filius Osuinum regno privare laborant; 
Sed quia non possunt obsistere viribus ejus, 
Promittunt regi donaria plura Peande, 
Ut succurat eis. Metuens infringere pacem 
Osuini dominique sui, non annuit illis, 
Donec quid super hoc domino responderit illi, 46*0 

Audierit. Super hoc consultus, turpe nephasque 



168 GESTA BEGUM BBITANIU/E. 

Caduallo reputat contra sua pacta venire. 

Iuterea veniente die qua celitus ignis 

Pectora firmavit titubancia discipulorum, 

Invitat Caduallo suos reges ducesque 

Et proceres, solleropne volens, diademate suropto, 

Regali ritu, festum celebrare. Vocati 

Conveniunt. Osuinus abest. Cur solus abesset, 

Corrupto fallax interrogat ore Peanda. 

" Rex, ait, egrotat. " — w Aliter se res habet, inquit. 4630 

Non infirmatur; sed habens in corde venenum 

Antique fraudis, veterum monumenta parentum 

Servat adhuc in cordc suo ; consortis in uno 

Inpaciens regno, solum molitur habere 

Se roonarchiam contra pactumque fidemque. 

Nuper Germanis mandavit ut occius arma 

Porlantes veniant. Tegitur jam classibus equor. 

Jam venit effera gens que te deponere querit; 

Sed si permittis, in eum prior arma movebo, 

Preveniamque scelus scelerosi, fraudeque fraudem 4640 

Collidam : fidei non observare statuta 

Non observanti non est, me judice, culpa. " 

Sed temerare fidem que venerat in stipulatum 

Rex ratus esse nephas, regnique amittere jura 

Esse dolo gravius, quo tendat nescit. Honestas 

Cogit eum servare fidem; sed publica regni 

Advetat utilitas : dubius manet inter utrumque. 

ConsuUt ergo suos quid agat rex Demeciorum. 

Dum dubitant alii, sic dicens consulit ilii : 

" Anglorum reges expellere proposuisti 4650 

De regione tua contra vota tua scienter. 



LIBER DECIMUS. 169 

Haut inpune venis. Germanica natio sempcr 

Fallere credentes didicit sub pacis amictu. 

Fallere fallentes non est fallacia ; non est 

Fallax, fallaces simili qui fraude repellit. 

Si dubitas, si turpe putas contraria pactis 

Te patrare tuis, saltem permitte Peandam 

In cives sevire suos et bella movere 

Intestina; tuam patriam populumque reserva. 

Angloram tibi debilitas munimina confert, 4660 

Leticiam meror, et vires debilitatem. " 

Tota cohors collaudat idem. Rex ergo suorum 

Inductus monitis, quamvis invitus, in Anglos 

Anglis concedit civilia bella movere. 

Anglia tota fremit : sevus capit arma Peanda, 

Sevit in Osuinum, nullo revocatus amore, 

Non prece nec precio, non vi, tonitruve minarum. 

Osuinus vero cum sevo prelia rege 

Agrediens, triginta duces, regemque Peandam, 

lnnumerosque viros perimit, potiturque triumpho. 4670 

Induit Ulfridus patris diadema Peande, 
Ulciscique sui molitur fata parentis. 
Discordes Caduallo ligat sub federe pacis ; 
At septem lustris transactis et tribus annis 
Ex quo suscepit regni moderamina, cedens 
Rex Caduallo bonis nature debita solvit, 
Moreque regali conditus aromate, mira 
Conditur in statua fabricata ex ere recenti, 
Stature regis equa, magnoque caballo 

Insidet ejusdem fabrice similisque metalli. 4680 

Stans armatus eques in equo, superadditur urbis 



170 GESTA ItEGtM BRITAKN IM. 

Loudonie porte, rapidumquc spcctat ad Austrura. 
Quadrupedi pedibus subduut in honorc beati 
Martini factam ecclesiara, certoque colendam 
Assignant cleri numero cum dote statuta, 
Qui pro rege suo cunctisque fidelibus oret 
Illic, et celebret sacre sollempnia misse. 

Conveniunt igitur de regni partibus omnes 
Sacri pontifices, reges, aliique potentes, 
Ad Cadualadrum ; tanto succedere patri 4690 

Condignam sobolem decorant diademate regni. 
Itcx novus ergo, Deo devotus, mitibus agnus 
Adversisque leo, quociens irascitur ira, 
Nou donatur ei ; sed eam sic temperat, ut non 
Judicium mentis pervertat vel racionem, 
Et memor ipse sui generis, quia moribus auget. 
Saxeues excludit, novat opida, roborat urbes, 
Tutatur regnum, justos amat, odit iniquos, 
Justiciam servat, hostes enervat, amicos 
Ditat, defendit viduam, sustentat egenos, 4700 

Supplicibus parcit; illis sua rura resarcit, 
Quos quibus eflera gens temere spoliaverat olim. 
Pax, illo regnante, viget ter quatuor annis; 
Sed quia nulla diu stat firma potcncia rerum, 
Quas secum Fortuna trahit, que semper in orbe 
Volvitur, et nunquam stat certo robore fulta, 
Publicus ecce dolor et publica causa malorum : 
Rex infirmatus diuturna febre tenetur. 
Inde fit ut Britones, civilia bella moventes, 
In cives urbesque ruunt, in rura suosque 4710 

Ruricolas. Nulli prodest munimen asili ; 



LIBER ftECIMUS. 171 

Nulla est ecclesie reverencia, nulla parentum, 
Nullus amor fratrum ; cleri jacet ordo sub cnsc ; 
Sed Dominus, qui cuncta videt, nichil essc sulubre 
Sincerumque nichil in toto corpore regni 
Prospicien?, delere cupit cum plebe potentes. 
Ergo lues gravior cladi superadditur : aret 
In terra semen, vel germinis herba scgesquc 
Non venit ad culmum ; fallunt sua vota colonos ; 
Defectus cereris panisque carencia diram 4720 

Esuriem pariunt. Nec eis animalia multum 
Ad vitam prosunt; herbas, volucresque ferasque 
Radicesque suis commendant ventribus, omni 
Materia victus consumpta; nec tamen inde 
Ingluvie ventris sedata, mortis ymago, 
Torpor iners, pallor, macies, et meror ubique. 
Nusquam deest moriens, non plangit filia matrem, 
Non sua mater eam, non claudit luinina patris 
Filius, aut matris leto moriturus eodem. 
Non defuncta queunt sepelire cadavera vivi, 4730 

Quos manet instantis urgens vicinia casus. 
Mortuus et moriens, languens et vivus in uuo 
Conveniunt lecto ; nec vivo mortuus ullum 
Incutit horrorem, mora mortis morte molesta 
Est magis afflictis. Sub sole relicta liquescunt 
Corpora, que totum corrumpunt aera vivis. 
Altera causa necis, quos mors permittit abire, 
De regno miseri fugiunt aliena sequentes. 
Rex fugiens petit Armoricam, regnumque relinquens 
Disserit has querula miserandus voce loquelas : 4740 

" regio divesl nobilis insula Bruto 



17*2 GESTA BEGUM BRITAN1U£. 

Responsis ostensa Dei, reguata Britantiis 

Regibus assidue, noo desolaia suorum 

Consilio procerum, propriis nudata colonis, 

Civibus orba tuis, que nusquam subcubuisti 

Hostibus in bello! de te sine cede triumphat 

Sola fames. Jam vultur edax, corvusque, lupusque, 

Dilaniant generosa ducum sub sole relicta 

Corpora, mixta vage nullo discrimine plebi. 

Kuricolis tua rura suis, et civibus urbes 4750 

Et castclla carent; nullus citharedus in aula, 

Nulius in ecclesia cantor, non organa dolces 

Pcrstringunt modulos ; funestas nocte querelas 

Dcvia promit avis ; sterilis tua terra cruore 

Fertilis est hominum ; sine semine falce secanda, 

Gramina luxuriant. Cunctis mea regibus olim, 

Nunc est facta feris habitacio, vile luporum 

Hospicium catulis, et fedum vulpibus antrum. 

Hoc merito patimur, quum peccavimus; in nos 

Fulminat ira Dei, quem nos offendimus; in nos 4760 

Ulcio digna venit; nostros purgare reatus 

Debuimus, dum tempus erat. Paciencia Christi, 

Longa nimis, justam viudictam distulit, ul nos 

Excessus nostros delictaque corriperemus ; 

Scd quia voluimus pravos compescere gressus, 

Et magis atque magis crevit vesania nostra, 

Ipse Deus cerncns in toto corpore regni 

Omne caput languens, cor merens, putida membra : 

" Non opus in medico sic infirmantibus, inquit. 

Filius et genitor, genitrix et filia, clerus 4770 

Et dux et miles mortenfmeruere subire : 



LIBEE DECIMUS. 173 

Occius intereant. ' Lata est sentencia, latam 
Angelns exequitur, cujus inucrone perempti 
Morte pari Briiones pereunt, insonsque reusque. 
Saxones et Deiri, Picti Scotique, redite 
In regnum tutore carens : jus vendicat inire, 
Qui prior iuvadit rem quam non possidet alter. " 

Interea cum elasse sua rex tristis et exul 
Intrat in Armoricam, quem dux illustris Alanus 
Suscipit, et refovet consolaturque dolentem. 4780 

Cetera pars Britonum quam mors permisit abire, 
In diversa fugit quo sors sua dirigit illos. 
At simul est sedata lues, optataque venit 
Fertilitas, et Saxonicis est cognita rerum 
Gestarum series, regnum sine rege, suisque 
Depressum populis, repetunt, habitantque coluntque. 
Que Cadualadri postquam res atiigit aures, 
Congregat Armoricos juvenes, et, classe parata, 
Strenuus ire parat in Saxones, et religtonein 
Illustrare suam, regnumque resumere regni ; 4790 

Cum nox de celo descendcns nocte sopitum 
Excitat atque vetat regem quo cogitet ire, 
Diceos : " Parce tuis votis. Optare quem optas 
Utilitas tua reprohibet; sapiencius opta. 
Temporis ista tui non est victoria iila; 
Ista reservantur, Herlino teste, futuris. 
Ecce dies veniet, venturis grata Britannis : 
Exilii finis, annus jubileus, origo 
Leticie, regni rcparacio, suroma bonorum ; 
Saxonibus terror, regnandi meta, dolendi 4800 

Principium, tempus fugiendi, causa malorum. 



174 GESTA BEGUlf BBITAN1U£. 

Postquam stirps Britonum, posifa fcritate, 

Diluerit, Dominoque placens placaverit illum, 

Et causa cessante, Dei cessaverit ira, 

Tu vcro quia sunt tua crimina vota, vctaris 

In regno regnare tuo ; regnabis in alto 

Celorum solio post hec discrimina vite. 

Peccasti : te peniteat, peccare quiesce 

Et pete Romanam sedem ; tua facta fatere 

Summo pontifici, qui te purgabit ab omni 4810 

Crimine quod fueris confessus, erisque 

Sanctus cum sanctis et rex in divite regno. " 

Omnia rex audita duci declarat Alano. 
Iile prophecias Aquile, docteque Sibille, 
Merlinique legi faciens, nil invenit istis 
Oppositum monitis. Sic ergo consulit illi, 
Dicens : " Angelice voci parere paratus 
Esto, jussus adi Romam ; regnumque Britannum 
Filius Yvo tuus adiens cum milite forti, 
Saxones impugnet, ne sic sine vindice nostruin 48io 

Possideat regnum contra jus gens iuimica. " 
Consilium ducis Armorice rex approbat, exul 
Discedit, sedem Petri petit; excipit illura 
Sergius, absolvit, confirmat. Nec mora, morbus 
Regis membra gravat, nature debita solvens 
In duo dividitur : descendit corpus inane 
In matris gremium, de carcere corporis exit 
Liber, et ascendit ad Patrem spiritus ejus. 
Secula sex et lustra octo, dempto tamen uno, 
Post incarnatum Verbum venisse feruntur 4830 

Cum Cadualadrus celi successit ad arcem. 



LIBEE DECIMtJS. 175 

Ai sancti patris Yvo dignissimus heres, 
Qaem pectus, quem forma decens, quera dextera fortis, 
Quem mores, quem larga manus, quem gratia Christi, 
Quem constans animus prefert et dapsilis aula, 
Dispersos revocat Britones, regnumque Britsnuum 
Classe petit, cum quo Ymius impiger, illi 
Haut impar meritis, ejus carnalis amicus. 
Discurrunt igitur, rapidorum more leonum, 
Per regnum ; gladiisque viam facientibus, Anglos 4840 

Dispergunt traduntqne neci, nil tale timentes. 
Anglica turba pavet, Britones fugit, invia querit. 

At simul attonitis animus redit, arma capescunt. 
Hostibus obsistit omni pars utraque nisu. 
Hutua bella gerunt, datur undiquc mutua cedes. 
Inde patres matresque pie, qnos longa senectus 
Quosque gravat series bellorum, talia dicunt : 
" Et quid erit tempus in quo cessaverit ista 
Tempestas bellique lues, et micior hora 
Venerit, et dulcis concordia paxque benigna? 4850 

Bruti regio, miserande condicionis 
Insula, plena doli, Veneris domus, hospita Martis, 
Sanguinis urna, capax viciorum sportula, testis 
Fortune stabilis, mendaces esse poetas 
Convincis, qui stare deam, quam volvit in orbc 
Orbita, posse negant! Fortunam stare tenaci 
Proposito, te teste, probas, nusquamque moneri ; 
Nam qualis tecum cepit persistere, talis 
Perstat adhuc. Regni cepisti nomen habere 
Vi gladii ; tua cepta tenes, tna cepta tcnebis, 4860 

Dum poterunt Britones et Saxones arma tenere. 



176 GESTA REGCM BHITA1!NI£. 

Progenies Priami, fera gens, quam blanda molestat 
Pax, quam bella juvant, que semper vivis in armis, 
Cui semper discors concordia, cismaque concors, 
Ecce venit vindicta Dei, dignaque reatus 
Punit clade tuos, regnique polluis expers 
Hujus eris, tua destituens, aliena sequaris. " 

At genus Anglorum, stirps impia, nacio fallax, 
Gens in marte fugax, in agendis fraudibus audax, 
Turba bibax, soboies mendax, populusque bilinguis, 4870 

Excedit numero Britones. Probitate Britanni 
Excedunt Anglos ; sed quare Saxones Angli 
Dicuntur, mihi, Musa, refer, ne nescius errem. 
Respondet sic Musa mihi : " Dat patria nomen 
Illud, id eventus nomeu facit angulus Anglum ; 
Anglicus angelicus tamen exponi solet : hujus 
Nominis expositor et dictus apostolus Angli 
Gregorius populi respexit ad exteriorem 
Candorem vultus, cum quondam dixerit Anglos 
Angelicos; tamen angelico perversa nitore 4880 

Mens caret, Anglus est Sathane hujus nomiuis auctor. 
Forte vel interior determinat angulus Anglos, 
In quo cauda riget, vel id ex vi gloria nomen 
Composita exponit, sine qua gens illa futura est. " 

Interea dum bella ferox gerit hostis uterque, 
Dumque novem lustris patitur pars utraque passim 
Dampna sue partis, ingressi denique camis 
Unius cujusque viam, fortissimus Yvo 
Et collega suus, Britonum tutore carcntem 
Destituunt populum. Populum sinc rege relictum 4890 

Anglica persequitur rabics, murumque minorem 



LIBEE DECIMCS. 177 

Excludit major, et contra federa juris 
Acephali Britones spoliantur jure paterno. 

Jam mea pene ratis fluctu maris obruta, portum 
Optatum tangit, et quam nec seva Caribdis 
Nec catuli Scille, nec terruit equoris unda, 
Terrent tcrrarum fantasmata, terret edacis 
Livoris morsus, torraento sevior omni. 
Quis locus invidie, quid agit detractio mordax? 
Hic ubi culpat opus, propriumque fecerat auctor, 4900 

Invide cur cernis obliquo lumine labro ? 
Indignante legis mea carmina, cur ea dente 
Scabro corrodis? Non sunt, me judice, digna 
Laude, nec in medio recitanda diserti. 
Nii ego provectis, nil doctis scribo magistris, 
Sed rudibus rude carmen ego, non verba pclita 
Non tragicis satis apta modis, non digna cathedra, 
Non medio psallenda foro; cano gutture rauco. 
Non plausus populi, non famam, non sapientum 
Judicium quero ; satis est mihi si puerorum 4910 

Gratus in ore legar. Procul hinc, procul esse periti 
Saxones hinc abcant, Iateant mca scripta Quirites ; 
Nec pateant Galiis, quos nostra Britannia victrix 
Sepe molestavit. Solis hec scribo Britannis, 
Ut memores veteris patrie jurisque paterni, 
Exiliique patrum, propriique pudoris, anhclcnt 
Vocibus et votis ut rcgnum restituatur 
Antiquo juri, que possidet Anglicus hostis; 
Neve male fidei possessor predia nostra 
Prescribat, sumatque bonas a tempore causas. 4920 

12 



178 GESTA BEGCM BBITANIUjE. 

At parvi quibus istud opus commendo, rogate 
Pro vestri vatis anima, famaque perbenni 
Antistes vestro vivat Cadiocus in ore. 



Explicit decimus liber Gestorum Regum Britannie, per manum Guillelmi 

dicti de Redonis, monachi. 



VARIOUS READINGS. 



VARIOUS READINGS. 



COD. VALEKT. 



7. terre. 
9. spargit. 
15. nascio. 

18. casum. 

19. Teumaque. 

20. Actorisque. 
22. sibi pro si ibi. 

24. parricida. Intextunostrolege 

casu. 
27. Phrygiorum. 
29. Pirrus. 
87. sanguine. 
89. agrediens. — Orsa. 
46. reddat. 
52. condictionis. 
54. armarumque. 
67. fiant. 
70. Pelagos. 



74. Asaracus. 
81. resignans. 

« 

84. tyranno. 

85. malvis. 
99. Danai. 

106. inquit. 

119. tum. 

124. Eucho. 

127. emissis. 

141. tacite. 

143. catena. 

161. D. cum. — temptoria, passitn. 

164. optatum. 

165. perenni. 

166. nefasque. 
173. Nusquam. 
178. Unus hic. 

180. Hinc. — evasit, o. amnis. 



coo. LOND. 



7. terre. 
15. nascio. 

Deest titulus. 
27. Eleni. 
31. ipsam. 

33. A . j. longuoque labore fretoque. 
37. sanguine. — Orsa. 

60. Assaratus, passim. 

61. invictissima. 

63. auflerre. 

64. Natus legitime. 

69. Frendit. 

70. Pelagos. 



85. mavis. 

98. inhermem. 
110. inhermes. 
119. tum. 
124. Equo. 

126. Incucitus. 

127. obmissis. 
138. falanges. 
141. adhuc. 
151. Deest in. 
174. s. f. in c. 
177. videri. 

180. Nunc. — armis. 



183 



TiBIOrS BEADIiNGS. 





COD. VALEirr. 


302. ex his. 


807. equiparari. 


226. sirtes. 


809. Aesi puero. 


227. Predulci. — Syrenes. 


810. vivit. 


229. vite. 


814. Littoribus. — hortisque* 


237. collabitur. 


831. genus omne. 


245. Loegecia. 


846. Herinis. 


250. Inveniunt. — vetera. 


354. Utque leo. 


258. neveis. Tympora. 


864. gigantes. 


269. grassariis. 


866. Sudardus. 


270. circumspicis. 


367. trecentum. 


290. Dicies. 


372. turba. 


292. exiit inde. 


376. vidit. 


293 Ad visitandam. 


395. altaria. 


301. Sirenes. 


399. Ut ibi. 


802. Turrenum. 


400. turmis. 




COD. LORD. 


194. designet. 


295. Q. tum. 


197. Tam nobilis. 


306. conveniunt. 


210. Ennogenta. 


307. equipparari. 


215. Enogenta. 


323. Icgatus. 


229. E. imme. 


328. Numquit. 


231. facio vobis. 


830. concipiens. 


232. marito. 


832. facta tuo nulla est. 


233. vitave. 


333. Hibertus. 


245. Loegencia. 


335. duplicans. 


250. Inveniunt. — Dyanae. 


337. Hiberti , passnn. 


257. syndone. 


345. juncta. 


260. J. cerve et Dyane d. D. 


346. Troes Herenis. 


261. Significat b. esta J. 


cerve 354. visu. 


etD. 


357. Quem. 


267. Dyana. 


365. caternos. 


268. penetrans. — Hefulgens 


870. Agreditur. — caputque. 


270. conspicit. 


390. Depopulantur. 


275. Queque. 


895. assalia. 


283. Deeslversus. 


399. Ut n. G. posuitque r. regum. 


287. s. servat. 


4U2. Jubiter. 


293. visitadam Zareamque. 


409. e. ejus. 



VABIOCS BEADIKGS. 



183 





COD. V4LENT. 


416. perimatur. 




546. Kamber. 


420. cognamine. 




547. quod fugit. 


437. tanto. 




552. pulcras. 


456. Quarta. 




553. Estildis , passim. — pulci ior 


457. Litore. 




557. ivisset. 


461. cernere. — Albion. 




561. Hiisiralus. 


464. gigantes. 




565. spernent. 


465. Hunc versum, qui deest in co- 


566. cubicula. 


dice 8491, ex cod. 


Valent. 


568. dispendia. 


deprompsimus. 




582. Hanbren, passim. 


469. feram gramine. 




584. Madden, passim. 


470. tum est. 




587. Estildin. 


485. Goemagum. 




588. Guendoloenam. 


487. ille. 




392. regimen regina regens. 


489. certam. 




593. Estrildim. 


491. certat. 




596. Sabina. 


498. Certat. 




598. Deestversus. 


498. C. sibi frangi. 




600. resignat. 


499. Unam in levo. 




602. Omerus. 


502. projicit. 




603. Malynque, et inferius Malys. 


505. Lyndonias. 




613. vitat. 


508. Gaulica. 




615. Offcnsaque. 


511. Donvallo. 




616. Ceptrum. 


537. Loegreria. 




618. Dilaniatque. — nefande. 


539. Wallia. 




619. Prodit. 


542. Uber, passim. 




620. ceptra, passim. 




COD. 


LOND. 


425. Deest. 




597. Bic iterum cod. Lond 


428. mittat. 




599. Macden, passim. 


434. habuit. 




601. Deest. 


435. Nec. 




610. debere. 


451. G. semper. 




613. nephande. 


V. cl. Fredericus 


Madden, 


615. xx tl ,passim. 


eques auratus, hic 


adjecit : 


616. dum tum venatur. 


" the remainder of the l at 


620. Deest Saul. 


book and beginning of the 


622. Est. 


2 d is here wanting. 


» 





184 



TARIOCS BEADINGS. 



COD. VALEKT. 



623. igne. 
625. vingenta. 

627. Silvis. 

628. abire. 
636. Y. Bruti. 
638. Leirus. 
643. Kaerlil. 

650. Leiri Ruchudus dyadema. 
656. Sephitoiam. 
659. Lenice. 
662. Ballea. 

669. Leir. 

670. Kaerleir. 

671. Lerechestia. Deest e&dem. 



672. Gornorilla. 

673. N. est G. junioris. 
678. extat. 

688. amore. 
699. retenta. 
701. ex parte sorore. 
708. conjux. 

719. ministrent. 

720. id p. flrmant. 

721. procreat. 
723. Gorgonorilla. 

741. Hunc versum et sequentes, in 
ms. 8491 desideratos, ex cod. 
Valent. deprompsimus. 



COD. LOND. 



629. refferenle. 

634. adit. 

636. Scute cognamine. 

638. Leyrus. 

643. Kaerlcyl adit. 

644. Q. rcgit. 
648. T. Hesler. 
650. P. m. ChoyMi. 
656. Deest Quod. — M a r. 
659. Leu. Yoel. 

663. Cujus. 

670. Caerleyr, 5. 

671. In uostris linguis. 

672. Gornozilla. 

673. Ragau, passim. 
687. carissime. 
699. retempta. 

702. F. tendit. 

703. Rcgis Aganippi. 
705. quam rationis. 
716. procerum tandcm. 
723. Gornorilla. 



736. Honninum. 

737. Ragau. Rege. 
742. Deest versus. 

746. Queret. 

747. cerebro. 
750. Deicis. 

752. Leyr. — circomdabat. 

754. Tesiphoneo. 

755. Exheredat. 

765. O. q. sua rata. 

766. Quam. 
774. p. tanta. 

777. ranusia. 

778. Cordillat num. 

782. regni in. 

783. P. pro meritis, ut q. mc 

nossc. 

786. G. Francorum rex adit, 

illic. 

797. Leyr. 

801. dimittens. 

807. succedit ei. 



TIBIOCS 1EADIHGS. 



185 



COD. 


VALENT. 


814. Hic desmit hiatus in cod. Pa- 


887. dyadema, passim. 


risiensi, et incipit fol. 13. 


893. An. 


819. bienne. 


897. Harianorum te repellente. 


828. Tynedagius. 


899. conjux, passim. 


826. Tunedagius, passhn. 


900. Norgeveci r. Elflni. 


828. Ysayas. 


903. ElQni. 


829. eumdem. 


908. chohortem. 


885. Jago ; Kenmarcus. 


910. R. Dactus Guilchardus. 


837. Porex, passim. 


917. Dactus. 


840. Ferrucem. 


918. Norchahumbrense. 


844. Ferux. 


923. captoque. 


846. in magnum facinus. — anxia 


928. bacchabor. 


factum. 


934. Calastrium. 


852. sine scismate. 


943. Deest gladios. 


853. Donvallo, passi m. 


945. secuta. 


855. Clotenis. 


950. Brennius. — sino flnc. 


856. toto Loegeria. 


953. repetit. 


858. Rudaudus. 


968. miro. 


869. sic perimunt. 


9S9. Cornubicum Cathenensi. 


878. fugiat. — Sit. 


972. cancellant. 


882. Deesl sicc&va. 


976. oris. 


883. Lustribus. 


985. promtus. 


COD. 


LOND. 


814. obprobria. 


910. Rex Dactus Guielatus, passhn 


816. ponunt. 


916. divcrseque littora. 


832. gutas. 


917. Rex. 


834. Gurguiturus. 


920. ergo rei. 


835. Tyago; Kinim. 


930. Optulerit. 


840. F'entem. 


944. lapsu. 


843. Porex. 


960. A Dactis. 


846. anxia facta. 


966. ditatas. 


847. Poricem. 


969. Conichitum. 


870. fuge. 


972. cancellat. 


881. et aratur. 


974. perornat. 


882. consumit. 


975. untque. 


884. Reinius et Belinus. 


980. Allobroges. 


897. Raulphus. 


983. Atsi. 



188 



TAklOCS KEADINC8. 



COD. 


LOHD. 


1748. viridentis. 


1948. e. n. que. 


1751. ingeniis. 


4950. Deestversus. 


1756. dyadema, passim. 


P. 71. Deest rubrica. 


1758. annis. 


1956. Armoricam fratres adeunt 


1765. generosas. 


duo; regem 


1766. pessimus. 


Dux adit E. v melius. 


1778. primis. 


1962. Innumeris, mettus proculdu- 


1774. cespitis. 


bis. HicmterponituraHnea. 


1781. sceptrum cape. 


1963. jungit. 


1784. penates. 


1964. AddesemicolonpostRomnnis. 


1786. mondi. 


1968. Nullum ibi alinea. 


1788. Joelinum. 


1973. Dyodoco. 


1803. Succumhit. 


1973. nimphis. 


1808. 0. u. 


1977. Liltus. Sic et v. 2047. 


1812. sit. 


1982. Vannius. Malgaueti. 


1817. regis unica. 


1985. Tota B. M. 


1820. Joelino. 


1996. Post hunc versum legere est : 


1726. adducere. 


QvkMm facta Bomanl Uobrtt tnrlM KMtas. 


1831. Deest versus. 


• 


1834. Q\ 


1998. Subjectus p. a. 


1836. Aspiciens. 


2000. Vanius. Alinea hic interpo- 


1862. R. legati. 


2001. vacat. [nitur. 


1863. didiscerunt 


2004. mittat. 


1871. nulli molimur. 


2015. In sola suavota fuga. Timor 


1874. Inductus. 


et tremor illos, 


1876. Karadoci. 


2019. Hastilia. 


1881. Opida. 


2029. Guicellinus, passim. 


1890. V. in. 


2031. Androenum. 


1903. T.t. regnum quod te regnante 


2032. Gonanus, 


regetur. 


2033. itt regni. 


1909. U. et v. sum vi sive. 


2035. Androenus. 


1923. Resigna. 


2037. marte. 


1933. injuste. 


2050. Britonum marte fugata. 


1940. homicidia votis. 


2056. nutriverat. 


1941. Perpetrare. 


2062. Votigernus. Skpassim. 


1944. nusquam Ramisia. 


2066. parare. 


1945. Mobiliore. sp'c.Le0fespiritus. 


2086. remisse pigebit. 


1946. O r. o tibi r. nunc p. au. 


2087. depenere. 


1947. A. c. etas, nec regnum. 


2091. Detractat in regnum. 



YAIIOtJS BEADIKGS. 



189 



COD. 


LOND. 


2095. anelat. 


2256. j. quos tres. 


2102. R. igitur ait. 


2258. Gatigernus. 


»109. Et commessalea. 


2260. alma coruscant. 


2113. mutat. 


2263. Pelagus. 


2115. pallit. 


2264. Engistus. 


2130. pro dolor ! 


2266. q. te tua vexat. 


2131. etffle. 


2267. veniat. 


2133. occumbat. 


2288. non sulgus vocatus. 


2150. S. h. onus, melius. 


2289. Dcest Rex. 


2154. carinas. 


2297. dispergit. 


2155. G. t. recipit. Orsus. 


2298. castra. 


2161. relegatur, 


2306. Privigni. 


Sorte relegati remis sulcavi- 


2313. micati, sed male. 


mus equor, 


2321. suscitet, recte. 


Yel tibi, etc. 


2331. cathervas. 


2177. Si v. consortes contigcrit. 


2334. Deest qma. 


2185. M. n. tribuunt. 


2341. mayorum. 


2189. exannia. 


2344. non nimie. 


2191. Pollicitatur. 


2345. communi. 


2192. tueatur. 


2350. cognamine. 


2197. dicit ei. 


2352. honusto. 


2199. Aurelium. 


2353. Que tamen — misit. 


2200. Ybernos. 


2357. plaudit. 


2201. Et Daccos. 


2359. u. ac. 


2202. queremus. 


2362. Cum vero nullum. 


2208. Lege sic. 


2366. Ethyr. 


2210. quem, male. 


2378. sollicitant. 


2212. Nostra f. f. c. vestre. 


2382. inquiri. 


2213. Dixit, ac Engistus. 


2384. nomine. 


2217. Cindit. 


2386. Aspiciunt. 


2222. v., illas G. 


2391. s. natus. 


2223. Ronven. 


2392. q. sis nescitur. 


2232. Impletum. 


2396. miranda relata. 


2233. Laurenchine warsail. " R. 


2397. astitit. 


ergo. 


2398. monacali. 


2236. Drincayl 


2413. invicta. 


2242. patris pater et s. 


2421. Magnancius. Sicpassim. 


2247. Disparit. 


P. 89. Deest rubrica. 


2254. E. igitur d. 


2432. Ybernia. 



190 



VAMOCS IEADINGS, 



COD. 


LOlfD. 




2434. Iter. Sicpassim. 




et o styrps generosa ul in 


2441. distractorum. 




cod. Lond. 


2446. Qui. 


2584. 


non voce. 


2449. disserta ferendos. 


2585. 


pars ista triumphi. 


2453. conferre. 


2587. 


Concurrunt. 


2454. noscit. 


2588. 


hinnitus. 


2457. Effoditur. 


2604. 


vinctis. 


2458. Deest versus. 


2606. 


Cogunt. inherti. 


2460. Forsancomapostperftdiepo- 


2607. 


Pulcrius e. putant m. subire 


nenda foret. 




pugnando. 


2464. magna draconum, rectius. 


2628. 


1. amor. 


2470. anelitus. 


2638. 


ccrtat. certum. 


2486. flumineus. 


2643. 


triumphum. 


2487. ritu. 


2646. 


T. in. 


2493. e. enarrantibus ejus. 


2650. 


victum. 


2494. tibi. 


2655. 


V., memhra. 


2503. Post hunc versum legitur : 


2656. 


Lassa. 


IpM Umen mea UU michl, flaemqne rereU. 


2664. Agap. 

2666 et 2667 . Desunt hi versus. 


2509. Subduntque. 


2670. 


occius. 


2513. f. hinc. 


2676. 


subicimur, rectiu*. 


2519. Mulctabit m. celestes. 


2682. 


Miserens miseretur. 


2522. petunt. 


2686. 


Deest hic versus. 


2523. publicat. 


2688. 


T. naves. 


2525. Ulum pontiflces decorant. 


2690. 


enarvat. 


2527. perentum. 


2696. 


relinquit. 


2534. flamarum. 


2697. 


Erandicando vicia, plantan- 


2539. fratrem, ambo codd. Mss. 




do b. 


2546. Ex aquilonari p. Daccos, Ve- 


2703. 


immo. 


nedotos. 


2709. 


H. esto, male. 


2548. varia. 


2718. 


O. q. e. et eril. 


2552. R. ipse. 


2723. 


Presentis affatus. 


2558. belli. 


2724. 


nosse. 


2561. occius. 


2731. 


Ybernia. 


2566. Deestversus. 


2733. 


Ex castris. 


2570, 2571. Desunt hi duo versus. 


2735. 


Adhuc, male. Sic s. j. 


2575. recursum. 


2738. 


Eani, male. 


2579. Preparat. Lege excitat, cor- 


2739. 


autTerri. 


recta typographi menda, 


2742. 


languore. 



TABIOOS «EADINCS. 



191 



COD. 


LOND. 




2743. lavabant, rectius. 


2924. 


creditus. 


2747. Utri. 


2926. 


homo, tantus sit in illo 


2768. inmorum, male. 




Tempore conceptus ; nam, e/c. 


2770. anullatoque. 


2949. 


se facit. 


2773. dixit. 


2950. 


in cesare regem. 


2774. Lege : ducuntque ad littora, 


2956. 


Vix. 


ducta. 


2957. 


fatigat. 


2778. Penthecosten. 


P. 109. Deest rubrica. 


2780. Regi. 


2963. 


Coldrinus. 


2791. stabat in m. Talaro. 


2965. 


dispergit. 


2799. Guillomini. 


2966. 


S. convertit. 


2803. falanges. 


2969. 


d. s. dona. 


2805. Utrem. 


2970. 


sollenizat. 


2808. corruptus capa. 


2976. 


Omerus. 


2809. phisius. 


2977. 


Tulius. 


2811. pisidas. 


2978. 


A. t. nutu. 


2817. conditur. 


2982. 


Ancbisse. 


2818. in monte. 


2987. 


cognor. 


2835. succedere. 


2997. 


victis invicla. 


2839. Deest radius. — Unica. 


2998. 


Post hunc versum legitur : 


2841. Que tibi n. 
2846. Guillominus. 


Affectum, non est «ccepllor hostia Creisi. 


2850. Deestversus. 


3000. 


associatus. 


2854. eum quem. 


3004. 


acquirit. 


2855. Uter Pendrangon v. m'. 


3009. 


bachatur. 


2861. molestat. 


3010. 


Ac. 


2865. certant. 


3012. 


nefanda. 


2866. obcumbunt. 


3014. 


Umbro. 


2880. invadite. 


3019. 


sic, rectius sane. 


2894. ditat. 


3021. 


dux o. illi. 


2907. G. r. in. 


8022. 


Donalasius amnis. 


2910. Opida, Tvndagallum. 


3026. 


acquirere. 


2911. H. Ingerna. 


3027. 


roarte c. amne. 


2917. Ulsinus. 


3030. 


i. et. 


2919. ipse. 


3031. 


utrinque. 


2920. Jordanis Tintagalensis. 


8032. 


Radulphus, Coldrini. 


2921. A. regis famuli Britelli. 


8088. 


Radulphus. 


2922. Tintagalum. 


8039. 


inherme. 


2923. potitus. 


8048. 


Badulphus. 



192 



VIBIOOS 1EADIN6S. 



COD. 


LOHD. 




8051. D. dum. 


3248. 


Pyramon. 


3076. solvat. 


3250. 


solemne. 


8077. A. maricolis. 


3258. 


Angulesi. 


3082. nactos, j. liltora. 


3262. 


Galganum. 


3091. Suppositum. 


3263. 


fnde Guenhomalam, Laciam. 


8094. Obsidibuscesisobsessamten- 


3268. 


Ylandrense. 


dit ad urbem. 


3272. 


Britanno. 


3098. o. variam. 


3273. 


Suppositis. 


3109. inhers inhertem. 


3274. 


egreditur. 


3111. themate. 


3282. 


sibi servat. 


8115. deffendite. 


3288. 


Armatis validisque viris in lit- 


8120. Prima. A Itera, primam, rec- 




tora. 


tius. 


8291. 


Quisdem triumphum. 


3122. prima. 


3294. 


Daccos. 


3126. C. vere judex. 


3298. 


Folloni. Follo, passitn. 


3128. nefas. 


3303 et 3304. Hi duo versus trans- 


3131. vitaque. 




positi fuerunt. 


3132. Deestest. 


3307. 


prodesse. 


31 48. Transpone semicolon posl co- 


3312. 


suscipiens. 


num. 


3319. 


quis major eorutn. 


3166. s. quoque, d. illas. 


3320. 


qui sit. 


3174. redditus. 


3321. 


Aut. 


3176. langore. 


3323. 


manos. 


3190. Limoni s. quod. 


3325. 


velocior. 


8192. Exicium. 


3336. 


cognamine, ul antea. 


8195. G. Guillominus. 


3337. 


crebatum casside. 


3198. Ac in Ybernenses. 


3339. 


Uterides. 


3201. tectis. 


3341. 


Acquirit. 


3203. furenti. 


3342. 


tibertit. 


3206. probum. 


3350. 


Vascones. 


3207. Miltem.placidum.dissertum. 


3355. 


egreditur. 


3208. Reprobat. gemitus. 


8357. 


L. s. dapifer cedit N. t. 


3218. ruppes. 


3358. 


In s. Loquereti. 


3221. Aut procul hic. 


8359. 


A. Kayo. 


8222. cadro. 


8360. 


s. j. domosque. 


8227. Genusistud. 


5363. 


plausibus. 


8232. stantem rapit. 


8370. 


I. c. procerum c. ducumque. 


8237. Ut. 


8386. 


hympnos. 


8247. v. prelatus providet. 


8390. 


Q. p. prece bis. 



VABIOtS BEADIIIGS. 



193 



COD. LOND. 



3395. Post hunc, versus 3393 repe- 

titur. 
3398. f. pars sic. 

3401. Cayuset. 

3402. Transpone comampost turbdi. 
3409. rexlargo. 

P. 125. Deest rubrica. 

3424. retrograda, r. prevenit illum. 

3425. C. celebrare tribus solenne 

diebus. 

3426. Collibuit. 
3438. nobis. 

3459. inhertes. 

3460. non g. arma. 

3471. acquirit. Sicpassim. imo. 
3478. At non Bellinus. 
3480. sanctissima. 
3482. susccdo. 

3501. Angulesus : " Rex, talia, ma- 
xime. 

3506. sociamque. 

3507. F. nefasque. 
3513. Atnon. 

3525. Agrediamur. agredianlur. 
3528. Angulesus. 
3543. patrias repetunt. 
3550. Deestversus. 

3556. Theuter. Boccus. 

3557. P. Euvander, S., r. Ytureo- 

rum. 

3558. lerses. 
3570. E. thalamis. 

3575. juvenisque receptat habenas. 

3576. M. es, m. es. 
3582. Angulesus, Cayus. 
3586. Horrisonus. roboat. 

3593. linthea ventis. 

3594. ut sibi visum. Deest est. 

3595. Yspana. 



3597. dracho. Sicpassim. 

3598. sua sompnia. 
3600. designat. 
3603. T. tegit. 

3606. Surripuisse Elenam. 

3607. Aut p. m* sui. 

3609. Egressus. 

3610. Cayo. 
3614. piscerna. 

3620. singultus v. sequentem. 

3632. jam f. cruenta. 

3639. I. gigas Elenam peremitem. 

3652. Conspicient. 

3653. Hic. 
3665. Trinodam. 
3672. Accrior. 

3681. Lege : " Inter. 

3682. t. ense. 

3683. attrox. 

3687. consutam. 

3688. ipse. 

3689. Aravio. 
3691. et sociis. 
3704. Cuerimis. 
3706. A., cujus qui. 

3714. Contenti. 

3715. P. locuturum. 

3723. R. in Ytalicos. 

3724. trahicit. 

3729. Eminet. Juncius.* 

3733. Te t. probo. 

3734. suos. 
3737. prope. 
3744. Petreius. 
3748. ingressi sunt. 

3750. hostiliter. 

3751, 3752. Desunt hi duo versus. 

3759. quanto. 

3760. Gravioris. premanlur. 

13 



194 



VillOUS KEADtHGS. 



COD. 


lond. 


8761. Bossoni. convocat ad sc. 


3930. strages. 


8763. dixerat. 


3932. Eucho. Sicpassim. 


8781. Acefali. captum. 


3936. Obtulit. 


8784. Profferunt, forsan. 


8954. C. s. c. consul. 


3790. Syrie Lybieque. 


3955. Experiosque s. in eos. 


8801. pugnanti Cornubien. 


8957. Cetera desunt usque ad v. 


3802. Bordellus. 


4023, uno folio avulso post 


3803. Turba. 


quinquagesimumquintum. 


8804. Gum. 


4032. faU. 


3805. Acquitanus. 


4034. fundit. 


8810. admittunt. 


4042. in Ymmo. 


8812. Rade punctum in ftne versus. 


4050. ritu, rectius. 


3814. Euvander Syricus; obcum- 


4051. proferri. 


bunt aut. 


4052. pro v. p. 


3813. Vilcheius (?). 


4054. p. multo. 


3823. Legrias. Sicpassim. 


4055. Et cum n. d. c. V. tendit ad 


3826. dixerat. 


urbem. 


3829. serviet. 


4055. AHogorlum t. et eam. Pone 


3831. Petiisse, reclius. 


punctum post subjugat. 


3834. quemque. 


4056. cedit. 


8838. Inturbam. 


4057. acics n. subtrahit. 


3839. ut summo. 


4064. U. s. contra rectumque fl- 


8840. Alphinos. 


demque. 


3841. capiamus inhermes. 


4065. j. Hodredumque fidelem. 


8855. f. cum. 


4072. Umbro. 


8857. peracto. 


4073. Orsus. 


3858. Et non incepto. 


4078. V. et q. habet a. h. 


8859. iilis. 


4080. populusque. 


8864. succumberet. 


4084. Evenus. 


8865. timuere. 


4085. In regno. 


8875. vestrum. 


4088. C, funestas. 


3892. hostis. 


4093. secundo. Pone eomam post 


3895. probat. 


virts. 


8905. fisi. 


4100. Amisit. 


3906. Corda. 


4104. harenosus. 


8914. Deest versus. 


4111. temptat. 


P. 148. Devst rubriea. 


4123. Ne te peniteat hujus. 


8923. Caraccius. 


4125. Buorum. 


8929. caput. 


4128. Fecerit. 



YAIIOGS nEADIKGS. 



195 



COD. 


LOHP. 


4135. Consimili. 


4227. At. 


4142. Ylandria. 


4235. Posthuncversumlegiturisle: 


4143. succumbit Daccia. 

4147. Ad gelidos A., populum cui. 


Pttrl conitmil», et Saiooes arroi aeCtnda. 


4148. corida. 


4242. rexit regnum. 


4149. Yspania. 


4254. R. Dacco fatis, Malgo. 


4152. Approbat. 


4259. 0. turpis. 


4155. abhorret. 


4264. Carectius. 


4163. ut observent illum. 


4269. Gormundus. 


4170. hec. 


4270. Et. 


4172. bellaque. 


4272. In Britonesque movent bel- 


4184. hinnitus. 


lum. 


4185. Eucho. 


4275. suosque. 


4186. irrumperunt. 


4278. relinquunt. 


4198. reliquit. 


4306. N. Dindero. 


4206. Non c. ceso domino. 


4307. Boetem. 


4209. Y. r. tamen. 


4319. Supplantare. 


4214. nec predo. 


4320. Non soli. 


4215. nec vis. 


4324. consuerat. 


4216. pubes. 


4334. Insomptes. 


4217. V. manet. 


4337. honore. 


4220. juvenes. 




4222. N. hic proprium. 


Post versum 4341 cetera desunt. 



/ 



APPENDIX. 



/ 



APPENDIX. 



DE PRIMIS INHABiTATORIBUS ANGLI.E. 

(Cotlonian M»., Cleopatra, D. ix, folio 67.) 



Incipit Tractatus de terra Anglie, a quibus inhabitabatur in principio 
ante adventum Bruti, que terra primo vocabatur Albion, et postea 
a Bruto Britannia, deinde Anglia nuncupata est. 

Ci put hom saver coment 

E quant e de quele gent 

Les grauntz geanz primes vindrent 

Qi Engleterre primes tindrent, 

Qe primes fu nom6 AWion, 

E qi primes mist le noun. 

Ore escotez peniblement, 

E 1'em vus dirra brevement 

Des geanz tote la soume, 

Gum jeo l'oy de un sage homo 

Qi bien saveit les escriptures 

Des auncienes aventures. 

Apres le comensement 

Del mound mil e nef cent 

E sessante e diz anz, 

En Grece esteit un roy pussant, 

Qi tant fu pruz e noble e fier 

Qe sur touz reys avett poer. 

Re*yne aveit bele e gente 

En qi engendra filez trente, 

Forment beles, qe tant crurent 

E norries ensemble furent. 

Pere e mere furent granz, 

Ausi devindrent les enfanz. 



200 irPEKDIX. 

Lur nouns ne vous say eunter, 
Unkes ne les oy nomer, 
Fors cele qui estoit eynez, 
Qi mult fu bele e haut levez; 
Mult estoit bele meschine, 
Gele fu nomez Albine. 
E qant totes furent de age, 
A grant roys de haut parage 
Totes les fillez donerent 
E as haut roys marierent. 
Chescune out roy e fu reyne; 
Mes par orgoil de lur meyme, 
E par fierte* e grant rage, 
Purpenserent grant outrage, 
Par unt grant damage avoient : 
Mes rien adonkes ne quidoient 
Qe rien lur pout 4 mal turner 
Geo q'il avoient en penser. 
Mes tost apres se assemblerent 
E coyment se conselerent, 
E si unt entre eux ordine* 
Qe nule ne soit si assote" 
De suffrir en nule guise 
De estre en autri danger mise 
Ne de seignur, ne de veisin, 
Ne de frere, ne de cosin ; 
Ne nomement de sun barun. 
" M6s touz jurs en subjectiou 
Gili tegnez en danger, 
Si averez tut vostre voler. " 
Fillez erent au roy de pris 
Qi a nuli ne fu souzmis, 
Ne le voleient-eles estre; 
Nule ne voleit aver mestre, 
Ne estre souz nuli destresce, 
Mes tutdis estre mestresce 
De sun seignur e quantq'il out : 
A chescune cel conseil plout. 



APPENDIX. 201 

Si lur seignurs a lur voler 
Ne se voleient obeier 
De fere lote lur volunte* 
De quantq'il unt en pense\ 
Entre eux issint asseurerent 
E par lur feiz affermerent 
Qe chescune tut en un jour 
Oscireit mesmes sun seignur 
Privement entre ces braz, 
Quant meux quide aver solaz. 
Un certein jour assignerent 
A faire cum purparlerent. 
Totes unt ceo en voluntez, 
Fors qe soulement le puisnez; 
Cele ne voleit mesprendre rien 
Vers sun seignur, q'ele eime bien. 
Qant tut lur conseil unt flne, 
En lur pays sunt returnez. 
Geste chose purparlee, 
Rien ne plout a la puisn6, 
Qe sun seignur a tant eyme* 
Gum ele fet sun cors demeine. 
Ele ne voleit & nul feur 
Damage veer de sun seignur; 
Mes qant furent k parlement, 
N'es osa contredire nient : 
Kar si ele ust rien contredist, 
Murdr6 la ussent sanz respit. 
Dieu li amoit, qe lors se tint. 
Si tost cum pout al hostel vint; 
Qant vist sun mari, sun doel crust; 
E qant sun seignur le aperceust 
Q'ele fesoit mourne semblant, 
Si la demanda meintenant 
Purquei ele esteit dolent. 
E la dame, qe mult ert gent, 
As piez sun seignur descendi, 
En plorant li cria merci; 



202 APPENDIX. 

De sun trespaz merci cria, 

E de la trayson li counta 

Goment ses soers a mult grant tort 

Li fesoient jurer sa mort, 

La ou de ceo n'avoit talent. 

E sun seignur hastivement 

La prist mult tost entre ces braz, 

La beise e fist greignour solaz 

Qe fait li avoit unqes m&s. 

" Dame, fait-il, tenez en p&s 

E lessez passer la dolour. " 

Lendemain a point de jour 

Se apparila pur tost aler 

A sun pere ou li parler, 

E a sa femme dist ensi 

Q'ele seit preste de aler ou li. 

Ne demorra pas grant pece, 

Vers sun pere, roy de Grece, 

Ambdeux lur voie tindrent; 

Tant errerent q'il vindrent. 

Mult sunt a roy trfcs-bienvenuz, 

E tut 6i cum fust avenuz 

De ses fillez li unt conte6. 

E li roy fust tut espounte 

De ceo qe sa fille li dist. 

Brefs e lettres escrivere fist; 

Ses fillez manda erraument 

Qe a li viegnent hastivemenl. 

E qant furent touz assemblg, 

Li roy les ad aresoneg 

De la mort et de la trayson 

Qe chescune de sun barun 

Par grant malice avoit purveu, 

Dunt deshonur lur est acreu. 

Les dames sunt touz espontez 

De ceo q'eles sunt acoupez, 

De la trayson dunt sunt rettez, 

Dunt ja ne serrunt aquitez; 



irPENDix. 303 

Mes chescune a sun poer 
Se veut defendre par jurer; 
Mes rien ne vaut le contredire, 
Kar li roy out si grant ire 
Qe touz les veut mettre a mort 
Pur lur malice e pur lur tort. 
Lur pere, qi out ire grant, 
Tant les ala aresonant 
B tant les ad examin6 
Qe rien ne pout estre cele 
De ceo qe purveu avoient 
Qant a lur conseil estoient. 
Par lur pere, qe fu coynte, 
Fust chescune la ateinte 
De cele malice desraee, 
Fors soulement la puisnee 
Qe tut counta a sun seignur, 
Qi puis la tint a grant honur. 
Qant chescune fu ateinte, 
De la doulerouse pleinte, 
Touz furent a dolour pris; 
Par lur pere e lur mariz 
En forte prison furent botez 
Pur lur mauveise iniquitez; 
Grant penance la suffrirent 
E juyse attendirent. 
Gi la qe par commun assent 
Fust ordine lur jugement; 
Mes les juges, qi furent sage, 
Pur 1'onur de lur parage, 
Cest-a-saver, de lur pere, 
Ausi de lur bone mere 
Que si noble gent estoient 
Qe partut 1'empire avoient; 
E pur 1'onur de lur barons 
Qi tindrent riche regions, 
Unt aguard6 qe a dreit ne a tort 
Ne deivent suffrir vile mort. 



204 ArrEKDix. 

M£s par commun assentement, 
Fu ordine par jugement 
Qe totes seient exilez 
Hors du pals ou furent nez, 
A touz jurs, sanz repeirer. 
Gest jugement estuet suflrir, 
Ou seit envys, ou seit a gr6 : 
Hom dist qe force pest le prg. 
A grant dolour e sanz resort 
Menez furent a un port 
Ben pr&s d'illoek, a la mer; 
Ou ceo fu ne vus sai counter, 
M&s qe totez furent prises 
E puis en une nef mises 
Qe estoit forte e grande, 
Sanz governail e sanz viande. 
Illoqes grant doel unt demend, 
M6s nul n'avoit de eux pitc 1 , 
Pur lur grant iniquit6 
Q'entre eux fut purparlg. 
En la mer la nef boterent; 
Les undes la nef chacerent 
En grant peril sa e la, 
De la tere les esloigna. 
En grant dolour sunt ores mis, 
Qant exilez sunt de lur pais, 
Dunt furent riche reignes; 
Ore sunt-il povre begynes, 
Ne scevunt quele part devendrunt, 
Si morz ou vives eschaperunt. 

Gestes dames unt grant peine. 
Aventure la nief meine, 
Les grant venz par mer la chacent, 
E les undes la manacent; 
M6s rien tant de mal ne lur fet 
Gum la famine qe lur crest, 
Gar rien n'avoient a manger; 
M6s pur le peril de la mer 



APPENDIX. 205 



Pitousement waymenterent 
E la famine ublierent. 
De tote part sunt turment£, 
Horir voleient de bon gr£; 
Gbescune grant dolur attent, 
Gar en la mer leva un vent 
Qe la flst crestre e lever, 
B les granz undes reverser; 
E tressailler flst la nief amount, 
E puis flotir al plus parfount; 
B tant la turna en virun 
Qe les dames en paumesun 
Fesoit cbaier e giser, 
Par .iij. jours et .iij. nuylz enters; 
Qe de rien ne se moverent, 
M&s tut diz en trauns giserent. 
Endementers les enporte 
La tempeste qe fu forte, 
E les cbace par grant travail 
Qe pr&s sunt venus & un rivail. 
Qant fu cess6 la tempeste, 
Gum nus trovoms en la geste, 
Le tens devint clcr e swef, 
E tant par west chace la nef 
Qe a la tere est hurte 
Qe Engklere est ore nomg; 
Mfcs en ceo tens sanz noun estoit 
Pur ceo qe nul bome n'i manoit. 
Qant la mer retrete fust, 
La nef a secke tere g6ust ; 
Les dames tost esveiilerent, 
E lur testes sus leverent. 
Grant joie trestotes eurent 
Qe si pr^s de tere furent; 
Tantost de la nef issirent, 
Ou trte-malveis sojour flrent. 
Mfcs cele soer qe fu eyne, 
Avant totes &e est bast^ ; 



206 APPEHDIX. 

Tut premereine en saillanl 
La terre prisl tut en estant. 
Gele qe fu nom6e Albine, 
De la terre prist seysine; 
E les autres hors saillerent 
De la nef, qe febles erent 
Pur la dolour e le juner 
Q'il avoient en la mer. 
Ghescune a terre se assisl; 
Lur grant famine les reprist 
Qe tut fust ublie devant 
Pur la tempeste qe fu grant. 
Feym avoient a demesure, 
D'autre rien n'avoient cure 
Mes q'il ussunt a manger, 
Mes n'el savoient ou trover. 
Mes par grant necessete' 
Les herbes crues unt mange\ 
Dunt grant plente i troverent, 
E des fruiz qe es arbres erent. 
Glens, chasteins e aliies 
Sustinerent bien lur vies, 
E des espines les purneles, 
Botouns de haie e meeles, 
Peirea, poumes q*eles troverent; 
Autre viaunde ne mangerent, 
Totes sunt en grant penrt; 
Ne scevent ou sunt arriv6, 
Ne coment ad noun la terre, 
Ou seit de pes ou seit de guerre. 
La lur covent sojour fere, 
N'estuet aillours autre quere. 

Qant revigurez estoient 
De la dolur q'il avoient, 
Amont alerent en la terre 
Pur espier e enquerre 
Quele gent i habitoient 
E quele vie demenoient. 



APPERDIX. 907 

En la terre tant alerent 

Qe parmi tut la cercherent; 

Bien ne troverent humeine 

En boscage ne en pleine, 

Ne en valey, ne sur mont, 

Qe haut e bas illoques sunt. 

Home ne femme ne troverent, 

Dunt grantment s'esmerveillerent ; 

Ne nul rien unt aperceu 

Qe unqes gent i fust venu ; 

M&s bele forest e boscage, 

E meinte beste sauvago 

I troverent a grant fuysun, 

E grant plente de oyscloun 

Sur terro, e en rivers 

Qe de pesson sunt pleners, 

E de en coste praieries 

Delitablement flories ; 

E les oiseux qe sunt sauvages 

Ghaunterent haut en les bocages, 

Qe les ad mis en grant confort. 

Mes qant veient qe par nul sort 

Ne purrount ja. aver poer 

De lur pals recoverer, 

Mes bien scevent e certeinz sunt 

Qe la terre qe trov6 unt 

Unqes ne fu enhabitee 

Par nul home de mere nee. 

Geo unt-il trove tut apert 

Qe tut dis ad est£ desert. 

Adonk dist la soer eynn£e, 

Qe estoit Albine nomte : 

u Trestotez sumes ezilez 

De la terre ou fumes neez. 

Totes savez la desserte 

Par unt nous avint la perte, 

Qe mes n'en ert restorro. 

Tiele est nostre destinee; 



208 APFEKDIX. 

Mes Fortune nus ad grantee 
Ceste terre, ou avowe* 
Estre dei e cheveteine, 
Gar jeo fu la preraereine 
Q'ea la terre prist seysine, 
Al issir de la marine. 
Si nule veut contredire 
Rien qe touche ia matire, 
Meintenant mostre k mei 
Purquey estre ne le dei. " 
Gommunement li unt granlee 
Q'ele seit lur avowee. 

Dunqes dist la dame Albine : 
" La terre avomes encline 
Dunt ne savoms le noun dire 
Ne si unqes avoit sire; 
Pur ceo de moi qe su feffee, 
Deit la terre estre nomee. 
Albine est mon propre noun : 
Dunt serra nome Albion, 
Par unt de nous en ceo pais 
Remenbrance serra tutdis. 
Gi nous covent tutdis maner, 
N'avoms cure aillours aler : 
La terre est pleine de touz biens, 
Mes qe viande n*i faut riens. " 
Mult unt desir d'avoir viande, 
Tel cum lur quer demaunde. 
Bestes veient & grant plente 
E oyseloun, dunt sunt tempte ; 
Volenters les mangereient, 
Si entre meins les avereient. 
Totes furent en grant pense 
Goment pussent a volunU 
Aver beste ou oyseloun, 
Dunt il avoit grant fuysoun. 
Assez savoient de cbacer, 
Qant avoient lige poer, 



1 



APPENDIX. 209 

E de boys et de rivere 
Bien savoient la manere ; 
Mes lors n'avoient nule rien, 
Ark ne sete, faucon ne chien 
Dunt preissent oysel ne beste 
Qe manger pussent a feste. 
Coynles e engynouses erent, 
Estreitement se purpenserent 
Dunt par grant avisement 
Engyns fesoient plus de cent. 
Des verges firent hardelouns, 
Dunt il pristerent veneisouns; 
Tripetthes firent de fuseux, 
Dunt pristerent les oyseux. 
Divers engyns sovent firent 
E si coyntement tendirent, 
Dunt les bestes decevoient 
E oyselouns assez pernoient. 
Qant urent pris a volunt6, 
La veneisoun unt escorche", 
De cayllous unt feu alum6. 
Bushe avoient a plent£, 
En quirs les bestes quisserent, 
E par les breses rostirent 
La veneison e les oyseux 
Qe pris avoient, bons e beaux, 
Dunt mult Ieement se peurent, 
E ewe de fontayne beurent. 
Tiele vie tant sustindrent 
Qe lur forces tut revindrent 
E bien furent revigure 
Du mal qe avoient endure. 

Qant char e sanc repreneient, 
Qrossese grasses deveneient; 
La chaline de nature 
Les somount a desmesure 
Par desir de lecherie 
D'avoir humeine cumpanie; 

14 



210 APPENDIX. 

De ceo sunt mult sovent tempte. 
Geo aperceurent li malfee* 
Qe sunt appelez Incubi : 
Geo sunt espiritz, ico vous di, 
Qe tiel poer lors avoienl, 
Humeine forme pernoient; 
Queques ceo la nature, 
Ou femmes Qrent mixture 
Qant en delit les trovoient, 
En cel point les pergiseient; 
Sovent enfanz engendrerent, 
E tost apres s'en vanerent. 
A les dames avint ensi, 
Qant lur delit les assailly. 
Mult prest estoient li malfee 
De parempler lur volunte 
En la forme avant dite. 
Ne fu grande ne petite 
Qe ne fu prise de un malfee; 
E la furent engendre 
Enfaunz qi geaunz devindrent 
E apres la terre tindrent. 
Tut lur delit acumplirent; 
Mes les dames rien ne virent 
Geux qui par gieu les avoient, 
Mes qe soulement sentoient 
Gome femme deit home fere 
Quant 8'entremet de tiel afere. 
E quant furent de mur age, 
Les enfanz, par grant outrage, 
En lur meres engendrerent 
Filz e fllles qe granlz erent. 
Les soers de freres conceurent 
Filz e fllles qe mult crurent. 
Grantz gentz de cors devenoient, 
E grant force en eux avoient ; 
Grantz erent a desmesure 
E de cors e de stature. 



i 



1 



APPENDII. 211 

Ceo puet home mult ben saver 

Par les grantz os qe hom puet trover, 

En mult de leus de la terre 

Qe vodra cercher e enquerre ; 

Oppelaunde e en cite 

Puet hom trover k grant plente 

Dentz, jambes e costez 

E quisses de quatre peez. 

Espaudles ad hom bien veu 

Ausi large cum un escu, 

Dunt mult de gent sunt en eswer 

Si puet estre faus ou veir 

Si unqes furent tieles gentz 

Qi portassent tiel ossementz. 

A regarder hidous erent, 

Gar malfez les engendrerent. 

Des deables furent engendrez ; 

E les meres dunt furent nez 

Furent grandes e mult corsues. 

De forte gent furent venues : 

Par reson si deivent estre 

Les enfanz qi deivent nestre 

De tiele gent cum cil erent 

Qe les geaunz engendrerent. 

Gele gent de faierie 
Mult grantment se multiplie ; 
Par la terre se partirent 
E caves en terre firent; 
Grant murs entour funt lever 
E des fosses envirouner; 
Sur montaines herbergerent 
Ou meux estre en seur quiderent. 
En mult des leus unkore i pierent 
Les grant murs qe cil leverent; 
Mes mult sunt ore abessee 
Par tempeste e par orree. 
Gele gent la terre tindrent 
Ci 14 qe les Bretons vindrent : 



212 AFPENDIX. 

Geo fu avant qe Dieu fu ne, 
Gum par acounte ai trovee, 
Mil cent aunz e trente-sis, 
De ceo seiez certein tutdis. 

Del tens qe les dames vindrent 
Qe primes la terre tindrent, 
Jeqes au tens qe Brutus vint 
E la terre 4 force tint 
E le noun Albiun osta 
E pus Dretayne la noma, 
Si cum la cronike counte, 
Deux centz e sessaunte amounle. 
Tant de tens, ceo fet a crere, 
Les geaunz tindrent la terre; 
Mes qant cele gent desrae*e 
En terre fust multipliee, 
Ghescun divers pays prist, 
Oii sa manauntie fist. 
E la vesquy chescun pur sei 
En tiel orgoil e tiel desrai, 
Qe chescun a sun poer 
Voleit autre sourmounter; 
Gar chescun tant se affioit 
En la force q'il avoit, 
Qe nul de eux autre ne dota; 
Mes chescun autre despisa 
E chescun vencre bien quida, 
E tost a ceo s'aparailla 
Pur conquere par mestrie 
La terre e la seignurie. 
Tantost entre eux sourdi contek; 
Ghescun & autre fist eschec; 
Sovent se entremedlerent 
E soventse entretuerent. 
Tant sovent se cumbatoient 
Qe de touz ne remanoient 
Fors soulement vint e quatre, 
Qe vindrent & firut cumbatre 



APPENDIX. 213 



Qant primes la terre prist. 
Mes Brut trestuz les desconflt, 
Sauf un qe fust lur avowed, 
Qi Gog-Magog fu nomee, 
A qi la vie Brut dona, 
Car mult de li s'enmerveilla 
E de la graudour q'il avoit, 
Gar de .xx. peez de long estoit; 
E de li voleit enquere 
Coment vindrent en la terre, 
E dunt e de quele lignage 
Pristrent primes parentage. 
E il trestut a Brut counta 
De lur origine coment ala, 
Coment en la terre vindrent 
E coment apres se contindrent, 
E cumbien de tens fu passee 
Q'en la terre pristrent see ; 
E coment furent engendrft 
De cbief en chief li ad counte, 
Si cum il einz avoit oy 
De ceux qi furent avant li. 
E Brut trestut fit remembrer, 
Qe autres apres pussent saver 
La merveille de la geste, 
Pur counter a haute feste 
E qe hom puet aver en memoire 
La merveille del estoire. 



Oy avez la verite, 
Come la geste nous ad counte, 
Qant e coment et dunt cil vindrent 
Qi Engleterre primes tindrent, 
E de quel noun estoit nome, 
E de par qi li ert done, 
E cumbien la terre tindrent 
Avant ceo qe Bretons vindrent 



2U APPENDIX. 

E le primer noun osterent 
E Bretaigne la nomerent : 
Tut est bon a remenbrer, 
Rien ne grevera de saver 
Les diz e les escriptures 
Des aunciennes aventures. 
De Dampne-Deu seit-il beneit 
Qi en escripture les metteit. 



Amen. 



BRUTUS. 



BRUTUS. 



(Cott. M»., VespAdaciu, A. X, folio 44 rerto.) 



Consuluit mea Glio mihi dare semen harene, 

Deque labore meo steriles nascuntur avene. 

Glio dedit lucem, non obfuscata tenebris. 

Tunc erat urbs celebris, tunc Gesar in urbe celebris. 

Profuit antiquis studio coluisse sorores; 

Nunc mea Musa mihi meritos avertit honores. 

Maro relegatus fuerat pro Titire, proque 

Nocte pluit; rediit reparatus honore domoque. 

Sed nunc mendicat quevis examine Clio, 

Gogitur esuriens migrare per atria Clio, 

Nec vates docet esse famcs comes inter acerba 

Que docet et volucres humaniter edere verba. 

Nemo Mecenas, nemo modo Gesar; Athene 

Laudis honore carent, fugiuntque theatra Gamene. 

Flacco Tibur erat, Nasoni jura paterna, 

Manlua Virgilio, vati modo cara taberna. 

Sed artes pereunt; sed rarus amator earum, 

Raro tamen scribens, patronum sentit avarum. 

Set, Dunelmensis presul, metropolitanus Hugo, 
Jure dicabo tibi que Palladis ubere sugo; 
Nam nequeo reticere tue preconia fame. 
Hoc tua nobilitas movet, imperat, exigit a me. 
Tu mihi Mecenas, tu Cesaris emulus unus, 
Que tibi devovit vates tuus, accipe munus. 
Tempore Gesareo quid Gesare majus habere 
Vel melius poterat, nil inquit concio cleri. 
Tu melior, tu major eo, cum sis vice regis; 
Gumque sacerdotis genuere moderatio legis, 



218 IPPENDIX. 

Hec tua majestas innuit, pietatis amore 

Fervida justicie, non degenerante rigore, 

Regia progenies, Karoli quem posteritaLis 

Edidit insignis successio, flos probitalis. 

Te duce tango chelim, te presule, leque patrono, 

Quem colo, quem laudo, tui supplico pectore paterno *. 



Quis pater et quis avus, quod erat genus, unde Britanni, 

Que fuga, que procerum fata fuere, canam. 
Tu mihi, Glio, fave, fer opem modulare canora 

Verba lira; totus spirat Apollo michi. 
A Bruto Brito nomen, genus a generosa 

Stirpe gerit, generis Dardanus auctor erat. 
A duce Dardanii sumpserunt nomen, ab Ylo 

Ylion, a Turno Troja vocata fuit; 
Ortus ab liis Priamus, cujus patre regna tencnte, 

Jason adit Colcos, nave secante viam. 

Applicat ad Frigiam, rex obstat; at ille repulsus 

Vertit iter, rapto vellere ; predo redit. 
Succensum fastus non deserit, ira repulsans 

Obicit, inque vices hinc timet, inde dolet; 
Nam quotiens recolit, quotiens sua turba retractat. 

Facta Frigum graviter fert, graviterque ferunt. 
Convenit ergo suos, placet ultio, classe parata 

Tenditur ad Frigiam, destruiturque polis. 
Menia dant aditus, ruit Ylion, Herculis ense 

Rex cadit; in preda filia regis abit. 
Jam spoliis reparata Frigum, jam rebus onusta, 

Jamque redit felix ad sua Greca manus. 
Troja jacet spoliata bonis, privata decore, 

Rege vacans, natus Laomedontis abest. v 

Mox aderat, reparatque domos et menia replet \ 

Milite, ne quovis pressus ab hoste foret. \ 

1 Hugo, Donelmensis episcopus, dirtus Hugo dc Pusat, et erat nepos regls Stephani. 
Yid. Matlh. Paris. HitU Angl., ed. Lond. 1640, in-folio, p. 91, l. 50, A. D. 1154, etc. 



BRCTCS. 219 

Hic erat ille ducum fortissimus, ille disertus, 

Ille prius de.quo fama tacere nequit. 
Ense latus, sceptroque manus, diademate vertex, 

Induitur; felix conjuge, prole viret. 
Fila sue Lachesis, status urbis, probra sororis 

Morsque patris Priamo morte fuere magis. 

Mittitur ad Danaos, petitur captiva, repulsam 

Antenor patitur, nec repetita redit. 
Numina causantes natos incusat ad iram ; 

Provocat ipsum quicquid ad arma facit. 
Fit ratis, imo rates, ventoque vocata secundo 

Regia classis habit. Dux Paris justus erat. 
Nec mora, litus habent, portus patet, uncus harene 

Figitur. Explorat dux loca, nauta vias. 
Fama refert venisse deos hominumque flguras, 

Nec hominum mores, non hahuisse stalus. 
Ardet in absentem Ledea, cupitque videre ; 

Dumque videt Paridem, conicit esse Jovem. 
Igne pari Paridem paribus sudare medullis 

Incitat, afectat par Paris esse pari. 
Mutua signa dabant, aberat Menelaus ab ede. 

Ledea rapitur, fit fuga, predo redit. 
Excitat ira duces Dolopum, conjurat Atride 

Mirmidonumque manus, persequiturque Friges. 
Consulitur Phebus; fatis repetitus Achilles, 

Ense colum mutat, vir modo, virgo prius. 
Ylion impetitur, pugnatur cominus armis; 

Hinc acies Danaum dimicat, inde Frigum. 
Hectoris Archilocus gladio cadit, Hector Achillis; 

Eacides Paridis prodicione perit. 

Pirrus adest post fata patris, feritate paterna 

Sevior, ex toto cetera patris habens. 
Convenit Eneas Priamum, pacem movet, armis 

Abdicat, obpropriis afficit ille virum. 
Hic parat insidias, vocat Argos, fedus initur, 

Signat iter, signat tempora, signat ubi. 



230 APPENDIX. 

Pirrus, imago patris, fremitu leo, tigris in bostem, 
Ocupat incautos ; rex cadit, urbsque ruit. 

facilis Ledea rapi, facilisque reduci 1 
Post scelus et sceleris probra superba redis. 

Exulat Eneas et navigat exule major; 

Namque bis undenis navibus equor arat 
Iter in Ytaliam. Petitur Lavinia, cujus 

Rex genitor prolis spe meliore caret. 
Turnus in uxorem cupit hanc, Lavinia Turnum 

Abnegat, inque virum captat habere Phrigem. 
Femina preponit votis ignota propinquis; 

Extera sic novit femina ferre vices; 
Raro discernit, raro deliberat; etsi 

Subdola, raro sapit quid bene quidve male. 
Marte ferox, sceptroque potens, formaque serenns, 

Parque deis, imo plus Jove Turnus erat. 
Phrix erat inferior virtute, remotior Erio; 

Rege minor, remis actus et exul erat. 
Hec amat, hec spernit, prepositus advena noto. 

Nauta duci, regi naufragus, exul Ero 
Fit subito felix; datur uxor ei, datur ora 

Ytalie, dantur opes, et diadema datur : 
Sic variat Fortuna vices, sic mesta secundat ; 

Sic 6ua non stabilis, sic malefida rota; 
Sic dat opes cui nigra prius. Quo venerat exul, 

Quo miser, adversis prospera mutat ibi. 
felix quam tanta beat tam regia conjux, 

Tam bona, tam comis, tam Jove digna viro! 

In regnum post fata patris successit Yulus, 

Spes patris, et nati inultus in ore pater. 
Non illum promissa Jovis, non fata deorum, 

Non patris eventus destituisse reor. 
Vincit avos, quamtumque rose superatur honore 

Spina rosam parieus, tam premit ille patrem. 
Huic pater Anchise pia proles, Silvius eres, 

Nec polis Alba prius Troja Greusa parens 



BfiOTDS. 221 

Uritur, urentem comburit, amatque puellam 

Silvius, et vivo patre potitur ea. 
Suadet amor venerem, coeunt bis terque quaterque 

Rex pater, inque brevi flt pater illa parens. 
Dum tumet alvus ei, dum spes jubet esse parentem, 

Sollicitatur ariolos quid paritura foret. 
Gonsulit arioios, astrorum consulit ortus, 

Gonsulit occasus, consulit ipse magos; 
Fertur ab ariolis, astrorum fertur ab ortu, 

Fertur ab occasu quid paritura foret, 
Quod puer impurus, que mors utriusque parentum, 

Quod foret exul, inops, transfuga, sorte datur. 
Verba loqui quantumque nocet, quantumque tacere 

Expedit, arioli que cecinere tulit. 
Partus adest, post quem subiit discrimen et evi 

Mater, et in partu desinit esse parens. 

* 

Cloto vocat puerum, vocat Atropos improba matrem, 

Matris et interitus prolis origo fuit. 
Nascitur ergo puer par Marti, major Achille, 

Dignus non redimi morte parentis erat. 
Moribus Eneas, Hector pugna, Diomedes 

Laude, Paris facie, nomtne Brutus erat; 
Nec puerum puer ille quidem, nec ephebus ephebum, 

Nec vir ad arma virum ferlur babere parem ; 
Namque puer juvenile sapit, juvenisque virile, 

Virque senile sapit, jura severa senex. 
Ut pueri metas, ut adultos attigit annos, 

Nec cane, nec jaculo prelia novit apri ; 
Nec jaculum non arcus iners nec nervus agebat 

Ocia, nec oculus, nec sua cassa manus ; 
Gassa tamen sua dextra semel ; nam vulneris iclu 

Detorquens telum, mors patris ipse fuit. 
Ergo pudor patrie, natorum dedecus, hostis 

Nature, sceleris conscius, exul abit. 

firutus adit Danaos, Priami successio fastus 

Passa Neoptolemi fata gemebat ibi. 
Hanc Phrigibus commune genus, communio iati, 



222 APPENDIX. 

ExLlii paritas jungit et unit eos. 
Expedit adversis mutare secunda vicissim, 

Fervet in adversis prosperitate tepens. 
Brutus in exilio bello calet, ante tepebat. 

Tum Veneris fuerat, qui modo Martis eques, 
Viribus exilium morum probitate redemit. 

Pronus ad omne decus, probra sui generis. 
Quid moror? in Bruto Mars pugnat, Apollo perorat, 

Arcbadis ora sonant, ornat ymago Jovis. 
Grecia miratur, stupet hlnc Tros, inde Micenus, 

Quanta sit in Bruto gratia, quantus honos. 
Viribus Alcides, Paris astu, Delius arcu, 

Gastor equo, fratrum cestibus alter erat. 
Hec quoque larga manus, mens largior, utraque larga, 

Prodiga neutra quidem condecorare student. 
Exhilarat sua fama Phriges, perteritat Argos ; 

Hos sua comburit flamma, serenat eos. 
Terra hominem citraque deum sua fama laborat, 

Ferre virum properans equiparare deis. 
Hunc igitur statuere ducem, statuere patcrnum, 

Seque dedere sibi gens miseranda Phrigum. 
Absque manu fragili septena fuere virorum 

Milia, qui Brutum constituere ducem. 
His favet Assaracus, monet illos arma movere ; 

Indolis egregie Grecus ephebus erat. 
Ex patre Grecus erat, Phrigia de matre creatus; 

Nobilitate Phriges, exprimit ore patrem. 
Pro patre suspectus Phrigibus, pro matre Micenis, 

Vix ab utroque cavens horret utrumque genus. 
Assaraco tria castra patent, ea demere fratri 

Nititur. Hic heres patris, at iile nothus, 
Impetit hic illum, quamvis sit utrinque Micenus. 

Alter habet faciles ad sua vota suos. 
Gonvenit ille Friges, fedus datur, oppida munit 

Brutus, et armato milite replet ea. 
Dux iter explorat, loca circuit; ilice stabat 

Silva gravis, tuta silva latebra fuit. 
Rex ibi mollis adhuc etatis, ibi mulierum 



BBUTtJS. 223 

Agmen, ibique locat vulgus inerme senum. 
Gonvocat Assaracus, nemus ocupat, ardua lustrat, 
Gumque manu valida devia colla adit. 

Mittitur ad regem, petitur pax, liber abire 

Tros rogat, aut valeat degere liber ibi. 
Pandrasus ergo furit, stupet Argos, ad arma Micenos 

Provocat, inque Phriges sevit Achiva cohors. 
Gonvocat in cetum proceres, temeraria Bruti 

Facta refert, quid agat consulit, arma capit, 
Deligit armatos, iter arripit, a Sparitino 

Exilit opidulo cum duce turba Phrigum; 
Legit in occasum Phrigie tria milia pubis. 

Exiliunt variis exspaciata modis. 
Brutus equum stimulat, socios vocat, increpat Argos, 

Tela jacit, gladio fulminat, ore tonat, 
Occupat prudens armatus inermes incautos, 

Providus ignaros, promtus ad arma pigros. 

Fit fuga, diflnjgiunt Danai, Trojana juventus 

Insequitur, Bruti non vacat ense manus. 
Fars Aquilonis aquis inmergitur, ense cruento 

Pars cadit, incurrit Martis utrinque genus. 
Obviat Antigonus fugientibus, et fugientes 

Gonvocat in turmas, flt quoque pugna recens. 
Quid moror? Idei fugiunt, ferientibus Argi 

Dant sua colla, beat pugna secunda Phriges. 

Dardanus exultat, cadit hostis, dux Anacletus 

Ducit et Antigonum ; cetera turba jacet. 
Infelix Bruto cessit victoria, preda 

Nobilis, hic regis frater; at ille comes 
Oppida munivit terre, nemus ocupat, ardua lustrat 

Funera, captivis spem dat abire suls. 
Pandrasus ergo furit, pudor urit eum, dolor angit. 

Hic sibi captivos, obicit ille fugam. 
Grecia tota suum decus exprimit, oppida Bruti 

Obsidet, inque vices impetit, impetitur. 



4 IFFENDIX. 

Insultus Danaum BruLo patet, amius arces 

Complicat, ambiguas hcirret inire vias. 
Pit gravis insultus, pubes Trojana resistit. 

Qua sua permiu.it machina, quaque vigor 
Viribus exhauslis miles tepet uslus, anela 

Corda laborantura vexat accrba fames. 
A duce consulilur. Nervosum luce Quiritem, 

Nocle timet vigilis sollicitudo ducis. 
Consulit ergo suos, Anaclelus convocat, illi 

Imperat imperio cedere sive mori. 
Dux mauifestat, opus favet, hic permittitnr ergo 

Liber ahire; fides et comes obses erant. 
Nocle dolis instructus abit, dormitur ab Argis. 

Incidit in vigiles, agnitus ergo refert : 
" Exiit Antigonus mecum de carcere liber; 

Fratris in occasum regis adeste, viri. " 
Ergo nemus subeunt vigiles, concursus utrinque 

Fil gravis, ista manus cedit; at illa cadit. 
Bis sua fata favent bona, nec meliora futura. 

Tam sibi propiciura dux stupet esse Jovem. 
Acriter invadunt Danaos, armatus inermes, 

Providus incautos. Turba sopora ruit. 
Ut patet obsessis, aperitur janua portis. 

Eiilit, et dupiicat prelia ieta cohors. 
Acriter invadit firutus (entoria regis, 

Acriter invadunt cetera castra Friges. 
Aspirat fortuna viris, his arma minislrat, 

His favet, et capto rcge trophea beal. 
Qui raodo servus erat, jam liber; qui modo pauper, 

Dives; quique modo transfuga, sorte datur. 
Pullulat Ideis in florem, fructus in herbam 

llessis, in aurorara sepe vocata dies. 
Servicii jara flnis adest, jam Orecia Brulo 

Paret, jamque sui meta timoris adest. 
Oppida raunit item, sepelitque cadavera, predam 

Dividit, et regem ducit adusque nemus. 

Convenit ergo suos; que sint sua vota requirit. 



BttUTis. 225 

Queve peti moneant, queve petenda probent. 
Pars monet ut partem regni petat, altera clamat 

Ut periinat regem, tercia suadet iter. 
Dum tremit incertus populus, Menpicius inquid : 

" Absit iniqua petat, vel scelus istud agat. 
Hic habitare malum, quia victis arma supersunt. 

Obiciet natis gens malesana parens. 
Letus in uxorem duc Innogen, et pete naves. 

Sit tua gens tecum libera, liber abi. " 
Itector adest, exponit ei quam dira flagella, 

Quam grave sudet onus si sua vota gerat. 
Audit et exaudit, Frigibus sua fata secundat; 

Innogen ergo duci regia nata datur. 
Colligit ergo rates; frumento, vestibus, auro, 

Armis et Bachi munere replet eas. 
llum ter centenis Trojani navibus equor, 

Cumque bis undenis, cumque duabus arant. 
Quis status ergo tibi, que lacrima, quis tibi planctus, • 

Innogen, ut patriam deseris utque patrem? 
Ilic tibi blanditur, genitoris ymago repugnat; 

Hic reprimit lacrimas, auget at illa tuas. 
Durdana classis abit, geminisque diebus et una 

Nocte secat valido tercia regna notho. 
Litus habent. Jacet in pelago Laogecia; fertur 

Insula plena feris, non abitata viris. 
l ! rbs ibi cive carens. Pirate menia quondam 

Diruerant urbis. Signa vetusta patent. 
Sacra domus Trivie dat Ylii responsa petenti ; 

Stubat ymago dee sordlda, thure carens. 
Dux igitur subit antra dee cum vate Gerone, 

Bis seni proceres cum duce templa petunt. 
1'ouitur ara triplex, triplex focus, una tonanti. 



Dum sna vacca Jovi, canis Herme, cerva Diane 
Occidit, hic aditus intrat ct orat ita : 

" Yirgo, fave, que luna poli, regina baratri, 
Quoque potens nemorum nomina trina gcris. 

o*i aperi rescraquc milii; <juc lnenia, sub quo 

1» 



220 APPENDIX. 

Sidere, que vel ibi sunt habitanda loca. 
Templa dicabo tibi, thus tibi sacriflcabo, 

Balsama virgineo jungo colenda choro. " 
Hec iterans novies quater aram circuit; illi 

Affuit in sompnis sic dea visa loqui : 
ft Solis in occasu jacet insula feta gigantum 

Semine, cive carens, undique clausa mari. 
Pan ibi curat oves; ibi mel, ibi vena metalii, 

Quelibet innumeras terra resudat opes. 
Hec tibi terra patet, sedes erit illa beatis 

Civibus, et natis altera Troja tuis. " 

Sic dea. Dux igitur perterritus antra recludit, 

Visa refert sociis, precipit inde fugam. 
AfTrica transvchitur triginta diebus, et ad Aras 

Filistinorum tenditur absque mora. 
Montes Arareos et Russicolam regionem 

Pretervectus aquis, hostibus hostis adest. 
Impetit, impetitur, vix fretus ab hoste tropheo ; 

Vertit iter predo, preda fit aperta satis. 

Temporis articulo, transacto tlumine Malve, 

Mauritana subit litora classe cita. 
Ut quid agat, Brutus secum deliberat; illum 

Gogit ad arma fames, imperiosa comes. 
Quotquot ibi rerum fuerat, a flnibus usque 

Ad flnes pereunt igne, vel ense cadunt. 
Itur ad Herculeas honerata classe Golumpnas ; 

Dant ibi Sirenes exiciale melos. 
Tirenas transvectus aquas, ad litora tandem 

Applicat, explorant que loca quive viri. 
Gens prope litus ibi, Troja fumante, profecta 

Exulat, Antenor, fata secuta tua. 
Dux illuc pietate gravis, gravitate inodestus, 

Effluit, invento servat utroque modum. 
l'ar erat Alcide pugnando; nemo gigantum 

Compellare ducem ubique ausus erat. 
Nomen ei Corineus erat; communis utriqiH 1 



b&otcs. 227 

Jungit origo duces, jungit utrumque genus. 
Ergo Phriges Phrigibus sociantur, fit Gorineus 

Assecla, duxque duci fit comes, immo cliens. 
Dummodo fiet adhuc major duce ; de Corinei 

Nomine nomen adhuc gens Gorinensis habet. 

Glasse cita maris alta secant, Aquitania tandem 

Cernitur, et portus Ligeris uncus habet ; 
Fitque diebus ibi mora. Vir mittitur ergo 

Miles ut exploret que loca prima petant. 
Pictus ibi regnum tenult Gosfarius ; illum 

De probitate duces fama timere facit. 
Dirigit ad naves legatos, querit an arma 

Dux ferat, an pacem, quidve petant ibi. 
Jam nemus exierat Gorineus, cumque ducentis 

Legerat arva viris, fessus agendo feras. 
Incius occurrit legatis ; ergo rogatus 

Gur sua curve feras persequeretur, ait : 
" Silvestres agitate feras; studiumque Diane 

Qui vetat, ille fera plus feritatis habet. " 
Luditur alterius sermonibus. In Corineum 

Irruit Umbertus ; dux sua tela cavet. 
Gominus arma movent, in frusta caput Corineus 

Dessecat Umberti, cetera turba fugit. 
Bex igitur feritate timens, ad bella Quirites 

Excitat, et regni provocat arma sui. 
Navibus at Brutus munitis collocat intus 

Quicquid ibi sexus debilioris erat, 
Gumque cohorte sua regi concurrit; utrinque 

Acriter impugnant, hostis utrinque cadit. 
Dum fieret miseranda diu cedes, Aquitannos 

Impetit, inque fugam dux Gorineus agit. 
Amisso gladio, dat ei Fortuna bipennem, 

Qua ferit; ima secat funditus ossa viri. 
Miratur Brutus, miratur Dardana pubes, 

Et stupet herculeum robur inesse viro. 
Increpat ergo fugam : " Quid, ait, tot milia solum 

Me fugitis? Numquid solus in arma voeor? 

15* 



228 APPEKDII. 

Vos tamen excusat victoris fama; gigantes, 

Qui modo vos abigit, vincere suetus erat. " 
Verba Fuhardus ad hec remeabat, cumque trecentis 

Gonsul adest equitum, fltque ruina recens. 
Fit gravis insultus, comes instat; at ille resislit. 

Hic ferit, ille cadit, fitque bipennis ebes. 
Huic caput, huic humeros, brachia et crura quibusdam 

Frangit in occursu ; nemo fit absque nota. 
Irruit in cunctos, et in ipsum cuncta ruebant 

Agmina, nec poterat solus ab hoste premi. 
Dumque furit, pietate viri commotus, ad iram 

Provocat Ideos Brutus et instat atrox. 
Begia signa cadunt, Phrigibus victoria cessit; 

Fit fuga, Phrix instat, Pictus eundo celer. 
Bex igitur fugiens, vix eluctatus ab hoste 

Vixque sui compos, Gallica regna petit. 
Gallia rectores sortita fuit duodenos; 

Hos adit, his aperit que sibi causa vie. 
Que petit annuitur, promittitur ulcio regni, 

Sevit in absentes Gallia tota Phriges. 
Exultat Brutus, letatur Dardana pubes, 

Ditatur spoliis classis onusta Phrigum. 
Fit miseranda viris cedes, incendia villis, 

Desolamen agris, magna ruina feris. 
Explorant patriam, metantur castra, locantur 

Menia, Turonisque modo dicta polis. 
Brutus habet patriam, dominatur ei, dominantur 

Victores spoliis, et dominatur agris. 
Sed non securus, non tutus res alienas 

Possidet; immo locat castra, timetque sibi. 

Quis timor est alii tutus sibi? nemo timetur 
Quin timeat sibi mens conscia, pena gravis. 

Jam Pictus, jam magna cohors, jam Gallia tota, 
Et numerus regum jam duodenus adest. 

Agmina precedit Gospharius, ac duodenis 
Dispositis turmis Postumus arma gerit. 

Hostibus exclamal visis : " Invadite, fortes, 



\ 
I 



BRU1US. 229 

Debile vulgus, ait, semivirosque, viri. " 
Agmina concurrunt, clangit lituus, tuba raucos 

Emittit sonilus, cominus arma sonant. 
Prevaluere Phriges, bostes cecidere; duobus 

Milibus occisis, cetera turba tepet. 
Sed quia major erat Gallorum turba, coactis 

Viribus, impellunt in sua castra Pbriges. 
Fit gravis obsessis insultus; nocte sequente 

Gum duce consilium sic Gorineus init : 
" Egrediar castris, nemorisque subibo latebras; 

Gallica dum feries pectora, terga premam. " 
Dum placet hoc cunctis, silvestria dux Gorineus 

Gum tribus egrediens milibus arva legit. 
Lux aderat, properantque viri, quos Brutus ad arma 

Provocat a tergo ; dux Gorineus adest. 
Exoritur cedes, fit clamor, utrinque virorum 

Milia multa cadunt, hostis utrinque furit. 
Tros ibi Turnus erat, firuti conatus in hostem 

Inprobus inproborum vix Corineus erat. 
Sexcentos pugnando viros occidit; at iile 

Occidit et telis pectora fossus obit. 
Dicta polis Turonis erat de nomine Turni, 

Imposuitque loco nomen, humatus ibi. 
Brutus in adversos hinc sevit, et hinc Corineus 

Imminet a tergo consuliturque fuga. 
Fit fuga Gallorum ; sed non victoria Brutum 

Commovet, imo dolet, compatiturque suis. 
Gonsulit ergo rates conscendere, cumque triumpho 

Fata sequi suadet, commonitusque deum. 
Navibus ergonutis Totonesia litora pulsant; 

Heret ab optatis anchora fixa vadis. 
tociens optata patris tociensque cupita 

Insula jam petitur, jamque petita datur 1 
Terra ferax et amena situ dum nomen habebat 

Albion indigena, plena gigante fuit. 
Diffugiunt, nemorisque petunt ob[s]cura gigantes; 

Nemo colonus ibi principe terra vacat. 
Dux iter explorat, regiones circuit illas, 



230 APPErsDii. 

Distribuit sociis, insula sorte datur. 
Edificant urbes, metantur castra, domorum 

Tecta levant, condunt menia, rura colunt. 
Dicitur a Bruto sortita Britannia nomen, 

Dicitur et Bruti Bruto fuisse genus. 
Pars Gorinea datur, Gorineo de duce, nomen 

Patria deque viro gens Goriensis habet. 
Nec eadem fertur Cornubia; dicitur ergo 

A cornu patrie, vel male lingua sonat. 
Eligit hanc patriam Corineus, namque gigantum 

Turba redundat ibi, quos vir ad arma movet. 
Herculea virtute potens, dimensus in altum 

Goymagog cubitos tres habet atque ix fem . 
Ilex aut abies quevis, radice retenta, 

Sepe gigantea decidit icta manu. 
Dum solitum de more diis libabat honorem 

Brutus, et in portu sacra daturus erat, 
Ecce gigans predictus adest; inopina Britannis 

Prelia, bis denis associatus, agit. 
Cominus instant, concurritur acriter; hostis 

Occidit, occidunt horrida monstra Phrigcs. 
Prevalet Ideusjmgnando, cumque gigante 

Goimagog pugnam dux Gorineus init. 
Yiia vincla terunt, oppugnant ergo iacertis 

Brachia, pectoribus pectora, pesque pedi. 
Inplicat ergo gigans Gorineum; dumque coartat 

Vincula, conqueritur fragmina costa triplez. 
Incitat ira ducem; revocans viribus hostem, 

Inponens humeris, in mare tradit eum. 
Goemagog Saltus locus ille vocatur ab illo 

Tempore ; tempus adhuc usque vocatur ita. 
Dux statuit leges Thamasis prope; flumen amenum 

Dum videt esse, intrat menia, fundat ibi. 
Ediflcatur ibi metropolis, emula Troje ; 

Meuibus a Troje nomine nomen habet. 
Nomen ei Nova Troja datur, pro hoc Trinovantum 

Utpote corrupto nomine nomen habet. 
Hec est illa polis, cui tres tria dona ministrant, 



BRCTUS. 331 

Bacus, Apollo, Ceres, pocula, carmen, ador. 
Hec est illa polis quam Juno, Minerva, Diana, 

Mercibus, arte, feris, ditat, adornat, alit. 
Hec nova Troja prius Trinovantum, deinde Kaerdul, 

Postea Lundonie, sed modo nomen habet. 
Lud, cum quo Gesar commisit prelia, frater 

Gassibellani, nominis auctor erat. 
Urbe decorata, multiplice turre referta, 

Givibus instituit dux sua jura suis. 

Rex tunc Heli Judee regna sacerdos, 

Et Philisteis cesserat archa Dei. 
Hectoree Troja successio posteritatis 

Rexit, et Hectoree Pergama prolis erant. 
Silvius, Enee proles et avunculus idem 

B ruti, regnabat, jura Latina regens. 
Innogen uxorem Brutus cognovit; at illa 

Tres peperit natos nobilitate pares : 
Par probitas illi, par virtus, parque decoris 

Gracia, par fame gloria, parque decus. 
Locrinus primo natus, Gamberque secundo, 

Albanactus erat tercius, hisque minor. 
Ungitur in senium genitor, senioque gravatus 

Dividit his regnum; pars sua cuique datur. 
Annis sceptra tenens bidenis atque duobus, 

Arripit humane conditionis iter. 
Debita nature solvit. Spiraminis aer 

Dis anime iiiolis; fit quoque terra capax. 

Unde superbit racione carens? Alienum 
Quicquid habet poterit ducere, nilque suum. 

Mors homini stimulus, mors culpe pena parentis, 
Justior invidia mors quoque morte nichil. 

Rex fluit in cineres, domus urna, locus Trinovantura ; 
Splendida pransus herus vermibus esca dalur. 

Locrino quia majori res maxima regni 
Gesserat, et mores exprimit ille patris. 



232 APPENDIX. 

Altera pars Gambro, que nunc quoque Gualia ferlur, 

Contigit, a Gambro Cambria noraen habens; 
Fit sua pars minimo, sua pars Albania nomen 

A duce tunc habuit, Scocia dicta modo. 
Dum sua regna diu concordi pace vigerent, 

Humbertus ad Albanos applicat, arma gerens. 
Rex erat Hunorum, cui gens Albana resistit 

Gum duce fida suo; dux cadit, illa fugit. 
Hostibus insidias, audito funere fratris, 

Locrinus, Gambro consociatus, agit. 

Yiribus explicitis et fugiens turpiter Humbertus abit. 
Dum fugit, obstat ei flumen, subjungitur illic, 

Deque suo tribuit nomine nomen aque. 
Ergo ditatus spoliis auroque potitus, 

Victor, distribuit singula queque suis. 

Tres ibi candoris nivei, roseique coloris, 

Feminei sexus regia classis habet. 
Pulcrior his Hestrildis erat. Germania tellus 

Hanc aluit; raptus rex pater hujus erat. 
Tota decora fuit sine nevis et sine ruga; 

Nil sibi quod livor carpere possit erat. 
Humbertus eam rapuit vastando suam regionem, 

Arripuitque duas dum rapuisset eam. 
Cessit ei probitate Geres, Githerea decore, 

Juno pudicicia, nobilitate Rea. 
Gaptus ea Locrinus erat, nec captus, at ustus, 

Ustus, at, ut dicam, unius ardor erat. 
Hanc amat, hanc optat, sola suspirat in illa ; 

Sic amat ille furens, sic furit ipse furor. 
Nec curat leges, nec curat murmura vulgi, 

Nec placet aiterius teda jugalis ei. 
Displicet hec Gorinee tibi quoque teda jugalis 

Quam pepigit, nate sit sibi nata modo. 
Dux ergo de more furit, raptaque bipenne 

Alloquitur regem, sicque minatur ei : 
" Siccine reddis, ait, mihi premia, reddis honores? 



BRtTCS. 233 

Hos mihi regna dedi qui tibi quique patri. 
Jam tibi friget amor, languent connubia vate ; 

Nondura nupta quidem jarn viduata dolet. 
Pulcrior uxor adest; sed barbara, sed fugitiva, 

Sed lupa, sed cilices novit amare vagos. 
Facta lues, si forte queam vibrare bipennem, 

Que mihi sint vires experiere modo. " 
Hec iterans clamabat item, simulque furenti 

Insilit, opstat ei curia, paxque datur. 
Rex igitur promissa duci, dux mutua regi, 

Solvit, et uxor ei; sed onus, sed cura, sed error, 
Sed labor et jugis sollicitudo datur. 

In licitis minus ardet amor, minus acriter urit; 

Plus juvat illicitus plusque saporis habet. 
Plus amor Hestrildis, minus illum Guendoloene 

Gommovet ; hinc fervet flamma, sed mihi dolet. 
Quicquid amatis patitur tanquam nil senciat illi, 

Sic labor est requies, sic leve dura pali. 
Oaudet amaus mala piura pati ; quia plurima sudans, 

Plus amat adversis, multiplicatur amor. 
Fit specus, inque specu latitabat .iiij or . annis 

Et tribus Hestrildis, rexque potitur ea. 
Ergo tumet partu, natam parit, ut reor, ipsa. 

Maris hominis speciem cetera pene patris 
Guendoloena parit, nati fit mater in ore. 

Gestat avum, nomen fertur habere Madan. 

Guendoloena sui post fata patris reprobatur ; 

Hanc fugat Hestrildis, regia facta come6. 
Guendoloena dolet, petitur Cornubia, vulgus 

Gonvocat et proceres, consulit, acta refert. 
Gonpaciuntur here proceres et prelia suadent, 

Gonpatiturque sibi vulgus et arma capit. 
Militibus conflsa suis, regina tirannum 

Inpetit, affliclus flt prope Sturen aque. 
Hostibus oppugnant hostes, lesusque sagitta 



234 APPENDI3. 

Locrinus moritur, victaque turba fugit. 
Rege cadente cadit gens regia, rege peremto 

Pax flt, et inperii femina jura rapit. 
Digna virago patris jam femina, cumque parente, 

Ut jubet, in fluvium precipitatur Abren. 
Nomen Abren fluvio de virgine nomen eidem 

Nomine corrupto, deinde Sabema datur. 
Annis bis senis regnans post fata mariti 

Exuit, et nato dat diadema suo. 
Suficit ergo sibi Gornubia; dumque vigebat 

Vita sibi, patrio more regebat eam. 
Silvius Italiam Samuelque propheta regebat 

Judeam, vates luxit Homerus adhuc. 
Ergo Madan geminos genuit de conjuge natos : 

Alter Menpicius, Mansin at alter erat. 
Utque quater denis regnum possederat armis, 

Stematis et vite flt sibi meta sue. 
Lis oritur natis, regnum captatur utrique ; 

Gum nec utrique queat cedere totus honor, 
Golloquium capitur. Menpicius instimulatus 

Demone, fraternum poliuit ense capud. 
Optinuit regnum, non rex tamen, immo tirannus; 

Deletor proprie gentis et hostis erat. 
Hic ut adversus erat pueris, uxore reiicta, 

Que fuit Eubrauci mater, ad ima ruit. 
Ut sua bis denis feritas regnaverat annis, 

Venatu redieus flt cibus iiie lupis. 

Tunc in Judea Saul regnabat; at ille 

In Lacedemonia, cui grave nomen erat : 
Nominis Eu pars prima sui, pars altera ca sit, 

Ristius addatur tercia, nomen habens. 
Ebraucus post fata patris, denis quater annis 

Sceptra regens, magne vir probitatis erat, 
Post Brutum, qui primus erat qui Gallica regna 

Navibus advectus depopulatus erat. 
Gallorum spoliis, predaque recente potitus, 

Ad sua navigio regna redibat ovans. 



buutcs. 23r> 



Conditor urbis erat que nunc Eboracus ab ejus 
Noraine nomen habet, qui decoravit eani. 

Tuuc in Judea David rex, atque Latinus 
Silvius in Lacio regna tenebat avus. 

Festa dies pascalis adest; duc ocia, Glio; 
Et requies et pax, sitque remissa melis. 



KxpUcit Brulus. 



!•' 



THE 



LAND OF MORGAN: 



BSINO A 



CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS THE HISTORY 



OF THB 



LORDSHIP OF GLAMORGAN. 



BT 



GEO. T. CLARK. 



«i 



Reprinted, with Additions and Alterations, from the Journal of the 

Archjeological Institute. 



LONDON : 

WHITING & CO., LIM., 80 & 32 SARDINLA ST., LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS. 

1883. 



PBINTBD BV 
WHITIHG A2VD CO., LIMITKD, 30 A3ID 32, SABDINIA 8TRKKT, W.C. 



CONTENTS. 



Introduction . .1 

The Land of Moroan : its Conqubst and its Conquerors 7 

The Chief Lords : Earls Robert and William of Gloucester 42 

The Co-heirs of the Honour and Lordship, and the coming 

in of the h0u8e of clare . .64 

The Earls of Gloucester and Hertford 93 



INTRODUCTION. 



In the following pages an attempt is made to relate 
the history of the Lords of Glamorgan from its Con- 
quest and settlement by Robert Fitz Hamon down to 
the extinction, in the male line, of the House of Clare, 
his descendants and successors. The history of the 
Lords, for that period, is in fact the history of the 
Lordship, inasmuch as the system of feudal tenures 
prevailed there in all its strictness, and the relation 
oetween the Chief Lord, his tenants, and their tenants, 
being of a military character, in the presence of a brave 
and implacable foe, was one of unusual closeness. The 
Lordship itself was a fief of the Crown, and every manor 
within it was held, mediately or immediately, of the 
Chief Lord, as of his Castle of Cardiff. 

The Lord held per integram baroniarn, but the limi- 
tations attending the tenure, undefined by grant or 
charter, were not only widely different from those of 
an ordinary barony or honour, but appear to have been 
different also from those of the other Marcher Lordships. 
Glamorgan was a county, and its ambulatory parlia- 
ment is styled a Comitatus, and was composed of the 
greater tenants, probably from ten to twenty in number, 
each of whom, though differing in the amount of their 
holdings of the Lord, had to provide a lodging at his 
own expense within the Castle yard at Cardiff, con- 
nected with their double capacity of defenders of the 
Castle in war, and advisers of its Lord in times of 
peace. Each, moreover, had his own castle, and some of 
them were also Lords of mesne manors and castles, whose 
tenants paid to them services similar to their own. 

The Comitatus was a Court of Chancery or Record, 

B 



INTR0DUCTI0N. 



composed of the Lords principal tenants or barones 
cornitatus, presided over by the Lord's Vice-Comes, 
or SherifF, from the decisions of which there lay no 
appeal to the Orown, and which levied fines, and regu- 
lated wardships, escheats, scutages, inquisitions, for- 
feitures, and other usual incidents of the feudal system. 
One of latest fines levied before this Court, in the time 
of Jasper, Duke of Bedford, describes Sir Richard Croft, 
Knight, Sheriff, as presiding, and Richard Turberville, 
David Mathew, John Butler, John ap Jenkyn ap 
Riderch, and John Carne as the Barons. No doubt 
the Marcher Lords generally levied fines and stepped 
into escheated lands, but the machinery of government 
in the lordship of Glamorgan seems to have been of a 
far more extensive and perfect character than elsewhere. 
It certainly was far more so than in the contiguous 
lordships of Gower, Brecknock, and Upper Gwent, and 
probably than in any other Welsh Marcher lordship, 
save only Chester. How it came about that Fitz 
Hamon obtained and transmitted such exceptional 
privileges is not known. The nearly contemporary 
conquerors of Gwent, Brecknock, Gower, Caermarthen, 
Cardigan, and Pembroke, were to the full as great 
men as Fitz Hamon, and the Lord of Montgomery was 
certainly greater and more powerful, but so far as has 
been ascertained, in none of these districts was the 
jurisdiction of the complete character of that estab- 
lished in Glamorgan. Something, probably, was due 
to the position of Glamorgan under its Welsh princes, 
some of whom bore the title of King, holding Cardiff 
as their principal seat of government, and the district 
about it as the Royal cantred or hundred. The laws 
and customs of Glamorgan were also of a peculiar cha- 
racter, and the Norman Lords, powerful as they were, 
found it convenient to respect them, at least as regards 
the more mountainous and more purely Welsh part of 

their territoir. 

There could not be a more complete imperinm in 
imperio than was the sway of the Norman Lord of 



INTR0DUCTJ0N. 3 

Glamorgan, within the lordship. It was described 
as "sicut regale". Cardiff and the Taff were his Bungay 
and Waveney; and once there seated, no King of 
Cockney could reach him. Coyty, and at least one hill 
lordship, comprising the two commotes of Senghenydd, 
were held of him per bamniam; Avan, the only im- 
portant lowland lordship in the hands of a Welsh 
family of rank, was held by serjeantry. Most of the 
manors were held directly of Cardiff by the tenure 
of Castle-guard ; a few were held immediately of the 
larger manors. All the greater tenants, with the 
exception of the Lords of Avan and Senghenydd, and 
perhaps one or two more, were of Norman blood, and 
also held estates in England, chiefly within the Honour 
of Gloucester, within the counties of Gloucester, Somer- 
set, Devon, and Dorset. The Liber Niger gives a list 
of the knights who held of the Honour, and in it occur 
the names of twenty who also held lands in Glamorgan. 
These are Berkerolles, de Cardiff, Cogan, Constantine, 
Croc, Grenville, de Londres, Maisi, de la Mare, Ner- 
bert, Norris, Pennard, Reigny, St. Quintin, Le Sore, 
Somery, Umfranville, Villers, Walsh, and de Winton. 
This list, moreover, for some unknown reason omits 
a number of other knightly tenants who held lands in 
Devon, Dorset, and Somerset, also within the Honour, 
and many of whom not only held lands but have given 
their names to parishes and manors in Glamorgan. 
Such are Bawdrip, Hawey, de la More, St. John, and 
TurbervUle, and m the latter class, Barry, Bonville, 
Cantelupe, Fleming, and Sully. 

As the Lords of Glamorgan also held the Honour of 
Gloucester, cases of divided allegiance were rare. Only 
one such is on record, where the Beauchamps of Hache 
claimed the wardship of Hawey, who held the manor 
of Combe-Hawey in Somerset of the Beauchamps, and 
that of St. Donats in Glamorgan of the Earls of Glou- 
cester. The case came before the Comitatus, but the 
finding is not on record. The only other case in which 
the proceedings before the Comitatus are preserved re- 

B2 



INTR0DUCTI0N. 



lated to the right of appeal to the Kings Court. 
During the troubled reign of Heniy III, Richard 
Siward, a Glamorgan baron, Lord of Talavan and Llan- 
blethian, having rebelled against the Lord, the Curia 
Comitatus declared his estates forfeited, and himself 
"waiviatum de comitatu" or " Wolveshed" according to 
the usage of the county. Siward, on this, appealed to 
the Curia Regis, on tne ground that the Earl was a 
party concerned, and could not therefore be a fair 
judge. The Lord refused to acknowledge or plead 
to such an appeal, and caUed on the King to respect 
his privileges. Naturally the King was anxious to 
break down the Marcher powers, which in truth were 
inconsistent with the uniform government of the State, 
and Henry happened at that conjuncture to have the 
upper hand. The result was a compromise, but it was 
evident that the localcourt had always been independent 
of the Curia Regis. 

Even as late as the reign of Henry IV, the general 
laws of the kingdom had but little force in Glamorgan ; 
for, in the 12th of that King, the Escheator is ex- 
onerated for failing in a levy, on the ground that 
he could not be expected to execute his office where 
theKing's writ did not run,"propter nimiam et magnam 
potentiam et resistenciam"; and a century or so later a 
messenger of the Court of Chancery, who tried to serve 
an order of Court at Radyr, was pelted with stones 
from the roof of the Manor House, and had to quit the 
Principality re infectd. But the currency denied to the 
laws of the realm was permitted to the old native 
customs, to which the people were much attached. 
These, however, were confined almost entirely to the 
hill lordships and commotes. In the vale, where 
nearly all the larger landholders were of foreign origin, 
the laws were practically those of England. Land 
descended to the male heir, and failing him, in co- 
parceny to females. Copyhold tenure, unknown in 
the Hills, was common, and heriots were very general. 
Ordinary justice was administered by Courts-leet and 



INTRODUCTION. , 5 

Courts-baron, and the burgesses and freeholders, in 
many cases all Welshmen, elected their own officers, 
subject to a well-defined and moderate veto from the 
Lord. In a few manors gavelkind prevailed, and in 
one or two borough-English. 

The Lord's power originally extended over the pos- 
sessions and dignities of the Church. He was patron 
of the Abbeys of Neath and Margam, and exercised 
the right of baculum pastorale, of appointing or con- 
firming the election of the Abbot. Also he had the same 
power, or dignitas crocice, with regard to the Bishopric 
of Llandaff. The Crown, indeed, challenged this, and 
in the reign of Edward I it was compromised ; but the 
Lord continued to collate to the Archdeaconry and 
other Cathedral preferments, sede vacante, and, during 
such intervals, to hold the temporalities of the See. 
The Act of the 27 Henry VIII, cap. 26, gives, among 
other reasons for the new settlement of Wales, that its 
"rights, usages, laws, and customs be far discrepant 
from the laws and customs of the realm", but neither 
here nor in any other of the Acts relating to Wales do 
we find any description or distinct allusion to, still less 
any recognition of, the Marcher Courts and customs. 
The Act above cited, in constituting the King's Courts 
in Glamorgan, enumerates as parts of the new shire 
the Lordships of Gower, Kilvae, Bishopston, Llandaif, 
Senghenydd supra and subtm, Miskin, Ogmore, Glyn- 
Rothney, Talygarn, Ruthyn, Talavan, Llanblethian, 
Llantwid, Tir-y-Iarl, Avan, Neath, Llantweie, and 
the Clays, all of which seem originally to have had 
distinct jurisdictions. One of the exceptions to the 
new system is in favour of Henry, Earl of Worcester, 
who remained " Justice of the shire of Glamorgan". 

The mysterious and total disappearance of the re- 
cords of the Comitatus, is fatal to anything like a com- 

f)lete history of Glamorgan. Fortunately, nowever, the 
ordship being held in capite, the King had a right to 
an inquisitio post mortem on the death of each Lord, 
and to the custody of the lordship and the heir, if 



6 INTRODUCTION. 

a minor. These inquisitions have been preserved with 
the records of the realm, and throw great light upon 
the descent of the landed property, as do the Pipe rolls 
for the corresponding periods upon the sources of income 
and the details of expenditure. Moreover, as most 
of the Lords of Manors were of English descent, and 
either the heads or cadets of existing English families, 
these names appear in English records, especially in 
those connected with the western counties. Also, 
although the cartulary and most of the charters of 
Neath Abbey are lost, and the cartulary of Margam is 
inaccessible, there is preserved in the British Museum 
a large collection of the charters of the latter Abbey, 
and at Gloucester many of the grants relating to tne 
property in Glamorgan of the Abbey of St. Peter, 
Several of the boroughs also have preserved their 
charters, and a few exist at St. Donats and Fonmon, 
and in the collection of the late most industrious 
antiquary Mr. Francis. From these sources has been 
drawn what is known of the history of the county 
before the reign of Henry VIII, and what is recorded 
in the following pages. The public records relating to 
South Wales, and more especially to Glamorgan, have 
been searched with equal industry and acuteness by 
Mr. Floyd, to whom the writer has to acknowledge 
obligations too extensive to be more particulany 
specified. 

Talygarn, 1883. 



THE LAND OF MORGAN : ITS CONQUEST 
AND ITS CONQUERORS. 



Of the forty shires of England there are certainlv not 
a score of which good histories have been wntten, 
and not above five or six and twenty of which there 
are any tolerable histories at all. Even Yorkshire, 
so rich in antiquities of every kind, ethnological, ethno- 
graphical, architectural, and genealogical ; in pre- 
historic tumuli ; in proper names given by the Briton, 
the Roman, and the Northman; in march dykes; 
Roman and other encampments; military roads and 
moated mounds ; in the ruins of glorious abbeys and 
mighty castles ; in its noble cathedral and grand parish 
churches, upon two of which the brevet rank of cathe- 
dral has been imposed ; in its venerable and splendid 
country seats, and in its ancient and often historic 
families — even Yorkshire, so rich in all these varied 
and tempting subjects, and rich too in material wealth, 
has yet met with no historian. Divisions of the county, 
as Richmondshire and Hallamshire, Doncaster, and 
Sheffield, are the subjects of works quite of the first 
class, but neither the local history of the great 
Shire, nor even that of one of its Ridings, has been 
placed upon record. If such be the case in wealthy 
and cultivated England, it is no great shame in 
Wales to be, as regards county histories, in a still 
more unprovided condition, as indeed the Princi- 
pality must be admitted to be. There is but one his- 
tory, Jones's Brecknock, of any Welsh county, at all 
worthy of the name, for assuredly neither Fenton's 
Pembroheshire nor Meyrick'8 Cardigan merit that title. 
And yet, as is abundantly shown in the volumes of the 



8 THE LAND OF MORGAN : 

Archceologia Cambrensis, and in the copious though 
incidental notices of Wales in Eyton's exceUent History 
of Early Shropshire, it is not the material that is want- 
ing. Cambria, though not the cradle, the latest home 
of the Cymric people, has no reason to complain of her 
share of the gifts of nature or of their adaptation to 
produce material prosperity. The incurvated coast, 
whence the country is thought to derive its name, 
abounds in bays and headlands of extreme beauty and 
grandeur. In the North, its scenery is bold and strik- 
mg ; in the South it is of a softer character, and cele- 
brated rather for its valleys than its mountains, its 
meandering rivers rather than its dashing torrents. 
In mineral wealth the North is not deficient, but the 
South has the lion's share, nor does any part of it 
approach in value the division of Glamorgan. Here, 
in the centre of the Welsh coal field, that mineral is 
not only abundant in quantity, easy of access and con- 
venient for transport by sea,but it is of a character 
equally removed from the bituminous varieties of the 
east and the anthracite of the west, so that it produces 
unusual steam power in proportion to its weight and 
bulk, and does so without raising the usual accompani- 
ment of smoke — qualities which render it valuable in 
commerce and still more in request in naval warfare. 

Wales, moreover. and especially Glamorgan, was 
for centuries the scene of romantic and spirit-stirring 
events, and has had a large measure of ecclesiastical 
and military renown. To Pelagius, though their names 
have the " merit of congruity", the land of Morgan 
cannot indeed lay claim ; and too many of her early 
sons, like the Greeks before Agamemnon, slumber un- 
recorded beneath her cairns and barrows. But of 
others, notices have survived, and their sweet savour 
is found in the churches which they have founded, in 
the records of Uandaff, the earliest of British bishoprics, 
and in the fragmentary, but ancient literature of the 

{>eople. Bede relates how "Lever Mawr", the "great 
ight", better known in translation as King Lucius, 



ITS CONQUEST AND ITS CONQUERORS. 9 

moved Eleutherius, a.d. 160, to send over from Rome 
Fagan and Dyvan to preach the gospel to his people. 
They settled at Avalon, but seem to have laboured 
much across the Severn, where their names are yet 
preserved in the Churches of St. Fagan and Merthyr 
Dovan, the latter indicating the manner in which its 
founder bore testimony to his faith. 

Gildas, an author of the sixth century, whose name 
is prefixed to the treatise De excidio Britannice, written 
certainly before the time of Bede, is associated with 
Glamorgan, from having paid a visit to St. Cadoc at 
Llancarvan, where, before either Saxon or Norman 
had profaned the banks of the Carvan, the Siloa of 
Glamorgan, many of those holy men who gained the ap- 

{>ellation of tea*ra sanctorum for the land in which they 
aboured, were educated and sent forth to their work. 
The monastic school,or Chorea Sanctorum of Llancarvan, 
is said to have been founded by the saints Germanus and 
Lupus to counteract the Pelagianism of the district, 
strong in the name and heresy of Morgan ; but ' the 
claim of Germanus in this respect is challenged for 
Dubricius, a saint of the close of the sixth century, 
and for Cadoc, or Cattwg, a saint and prince, whose 
name survives in the adjacent Cadoxton, whose triad 
has gained for him the appellation of "the wise", and 
who, with St. David and Nennius, claims to have 
shared in the instruction of St. Finnian, one of the 
apostles of Christian Ireland. A charter by Merchiaun, 
witnessed by Bishop Gwrgan (Gucawnus), who died 
a.d. 982, mentions the Abbot "totius dignitatis ecclesise 
sancti Cattoci Lancarvanie"; and it was at Llancarvan, 
towards the middle of the twelfth century, that 
Caradoc, named from thence, penned that account of 
the Principality known as the Brut-y-Tywysogion, 
which, expanded and continued by the successive 
labours of Price and Lloyd, Powell and Wynne, still 
holds the chief place in Welsh historical literature. In 
Llancarvan also, upon his patrimony of Trev-Walter, 
or Walterston, was probably born Walter Calenius, or 



g 



10 THE LAND OF MORGAN : 

de Map, a son of Blondel de Map, chaplain to Fitz- 
Hamon, and who acquired the property by marriage 
with Flwr, its Welsh neiress. Walter became chaplain 
to Henry I, and Archdeacon of Oxford, and was one of 
those who, during the reigns of the two Henrys, and 
under the protection of Robert Earl of Gloucester, Lord 
of Glamorgan, promoted the growth of English litera- 
ture, and was besides celebrated for his lively and 

ungent satires upon Becket and the clergy of his day. 

~e also seems to have added largely to the stocks of 
Arthurian romance, and to have made popular those 
legends upon which his friend and contemporary Geof- 
frey of Monmouth founded his well-known volume. 
These weU-springs of Cymric history are, indeed, scanty 
and turbid, andSust be drawn from with great discrf- 
mination ; but it is from them, from the Lifr Coch, or 
Red Book, otherwise known as the Book of Llandaff, 
and from the lives of St. Cadoc, St. Iltyd, and 
other of the Welsh saints, that is derived all that 
is known of the history of Glamorgan before the Nor- 
man invasion. Nor is the testimony of the Book of 
Uandaff confined to Llancarvan. Both Llan- Iltyd or 
Llantwit, under the presidency of St. Iltutus, and 
Docunni or Llandoch, now Llandough upon the Ely, 
were celebrated as monastic colleges early in the fifth 
century ; and even now, in the churchyard of each 
place, are seen those singular obelisks or upright stones, 
rudely, but effectively, adorned with knot-work in 
stone, and of very ancient, though uncertain, date. 

Glamorgan extends about fifty-three miles along the 
northern snore of the Bristol Channel, here broadening 
into an estuary. From the seaboard as a base it passes 
inland twenty-nine miles in the figure of a triangle, the 
northern point abutting upon the range of the Beacons 
of Brecknock. Its principal towns, Cardiff and Swan- 
sea, are placed near the southern angles of the triangle : 
Merthyr, of far later growth, stands at the northern 
angle, and near the head, as Cardiff is near the opening, 
of the Taff, and Swansea of the Tawe. Aberdare upon 



ITS CONQUEST AND ITS CONQUEROBS. 11 

the Cynon, and Tre-Herbert upon the Rhondda, tribu- 
taries of the Taff, are the centres of immense nebulae 
of population, at this time condensing with more than 
American rapidity into considerable towns. The actual 
boundaries of the county, east and west, are the Afon- 
Eleirch or Swan river, now the Rhymny, from Mon- 
mouthshire, and the Llwchwr or Burry from Caermar- 
thenshire. The episcopal village and Cathedral of 
Llandaff stand upon the Llan or mead of the Taff, a 
little above Cardiff. 

The great natural division of the county is into up- 
land and lowland, caJled by the old Welsh the Blaenau 
and the Bro; the latter extending, like the Concan of 
Bombay, as a broad margin aJong the seaboard, and 
covering about a third of the area ; the former, rising 
abruptly like the Syhadree Ghauts, and lying to the 
north. The Bro, though containing sea cliffs of a hun- 
dred feet, is rather undulating than hilly ; the Blaenau 
is throughout mountainous, and contains elevations 
which rise to 1,200, 1,600, and, at Carn Moysin, to 
2,000 feet. From this hiffh ground spring the rivers 
of the county. Besides the four already mentioned, 
are the Nedd, on which are the town of Neath and 
the dock of Briton-Ferry, the Ely with the dock of 
Penarth, the Ogwr flowing througn Bridgend, and the 
Cowbridge Thawe, whose waters roll into the sea over 
a field of water-worn lias pebbles, in repute as an 
hydraulic limestone, in great request among engineers, 
and as celebrated as that of Barrow on the Soar. 
Besides these are a multitude of small streams bearing 
Welsh names, some of which, as the Sarth or Javelin, 
and the Twrch or Boar, are highly significant. 

The Llwchwr is the only Glamorgan river admitting, 
in any degree, of navigation, and that to a very small 
extent. The other streams are rapid and uncertain, 
sometimes foaming torrents, sometimes dry beds of 
shingle, but more commonly with a moderate flow. 
They descend through those wild and rocky but always 
verdant valleys, for which Glamorgan is justly famed. 



12 THE LAND OF MORGAN : 

Both the Taff and the Nedd are celebrated for their 
scenery, but the Taff has the advantage not only in 
the conflux of valleys, which form so pleasing a feature 
at Pont-y-Prydd, but in the grand cleft by which that 
river, guarded by the ancient castle of the De Clares, 
and the far more ancient camp of British origin, bursts 
from its constraint amidst the mountains, and rolls in 
easy and graceful curves across the plain of Cardiff. 

Cardiff, the principal port of the county, is formed 
by the union of the Taff and the Ely, and its roadstead 
is protected by the headland of Penarth. Swansea, 
its western rival, opens upon its celebrated bay : Briton- 
Ferry, Port Talbot, and Porth Cawl are intermediate 
and smaller ports. A curious feature upon several 
points of the sea-coast are the large deposits of blown 
sand, probably an accumulation of the twelfth century, 
but first mentioned in a charter of Richard II, 1384, 
in which he grants to the Abbot and Convent of 
Margam the forfeited advowson of Avene propter 
suam terram per sabulum maritimum destruetam in 
nimiam depauperacionem abbatice. This sand, the 
movement of the surface of which has hitherto defied 
all attempts at planting, has advanced upon Merthyr 
Mawr and Kenfig and some parts of Gower, and, like 
the dragon of Wantley, has swallowed up much pas- 
ture, at least three churches, a castle, a village or two, 
and not a few detached houses. 

The superficial features of the county are largely 
affected by its mineral composition. The mountain 
districts contain the coal-field, of late years so exten- 
sively worked : the lowlands are mainly old red sand- 
stone and mountain limestone, more or less eroded by 
water, and covered up by the unconformable, and 
nearly horizontal, beds of the magnesian conglomerate, 
the new red, and the lias. The county contains no 
igneous rocks, nothing known older than the old red, 
and no regular formation later than the lias. The 
gravels, however, are on a large scale, and their sections 
throw much light upon the origin and dip of the 



ITS CONQUEST AND ITS COXQUERORS. 13 

pebbles, and therefore upon the measure and direction 
of their depositing forces. 

The charms of Glamorgan have not wanted keen 
appreciation. An early triad asserts of it : — 

" The Bard loves this beautiful country, 
Its wines, its wives, and its white houses." 

Its wines are, alas ! no more ; not even the patriotic 
efforts of Lord Bute, in his vineyard at Castell Coch, 
have as yet been able to raise a murniur from the local 
temperance societies ; but the white cottages still 
glisten, nestled in the recesses of the hills ; and if its 
wives no longer enjoy a special pre-eminence in Wales 
it is only because the fair sex of other counties, emulous 
of the distinction, have attained to the same merits. 
The verses, by Dean Conybeare, in which the senti- 
ments of this triad are embodied, seem worthy of 
preservation here : — 

" Morganwg ! thy vales are fair, 
Proud thy mountains rise in air ; 
And frequent, through the varied scene 
Thy white-walled mansions glare between : 

May the radiant lamp of day 

Ever shed its choicest ray 

On those walls of glittering white ; 

Morganwg ! the Bards' delight. 

" Morganwg ! those white walls hold 
A matchless racc in warfare bold ; 
In peace the pink of courtesy, 
In love are none so fond and free. 

May, etc. 

" Morganwg ! those white walls know 
AU of bliss is given below, 
For there in honour dwells the bride, 
Her lover^s joy, her husband's pride. 

May, etc." 

The glowing description of Speed has been often 
quoted, and is well known ; a modern and more prosaic 
writer, following in the same school of geography that 
has compared Italy to a boot, and Oxfordshire to a 
seated old woman, has employed a sort of mcmoria 



14 THE LAND OF MORGAN : 

technica for the general form of Glamorgan, which he 
likens to a porpoise in the act of diving : "Roath re- 
presents its mouth, Ruperra its prominent snout, 
Blaen-Rhymny and Waun-cae-Gerwin its dorsal fins, 
the peninsula of Gower its outstretched tail, and the 
Hundred of Dinas Powis its protuberant belly." Hig- 
den, writing in the fourteenth century, extends his 
panegyric to the whole PrincipaJity. 

" Sic propero ad Walliam 
Ad Priami prosapiam, 
Ad Magni Jovis sanguinem 

Ad Dardani progeniein* 

• • • • 

" Terra foecunda fructibus 
Et carnibus et piscibus ; 
Domesticis, silvestribus, 
Bobus, equis, et ovibus ; 
Apta cunctis seminibus, 
Culmis, spicis, graminibus; 
Arvis, pratis, nemoribus, 
Herbis gaudet, et floribus ; 
Fluminibus et fontibus, 
Convallibus et montibus. 
Convalles pastum proferunt, 
Montes metalla conferunt ; 
Carbo sub terrse cortice, 
Crescit viror in vertice ; 
Calcem per artis regulas 
Preebet ad tecti, tegulas. 
Epularum materia 
Mel, lac, et lacticinia, 
Mulsum, medo, cervisia, 
Abundant in hac patria, 
Et quicquid vitee congruit 

Ubertim terra tribuit. 

• • • • 

"Convictus hujus patriae 
Differt a ritu Anglise, 
In vestibus in victibus, 
In cseteris quam pluribus, 
His vestium insignia 
Sunt clamis et camisia, 
Et crispa femoralia. 
Sub ventis et snb pluvia, 
Plura non ferunt tegmina 

Quamvis brumescat Borea. 

• • • • 



ITS CONQUEST AND ITS CONQUERORS. 15 

11 Itidem in South-Wallia 
Apud Kaerdiff est insula, 
Juxta Sabrinum pelagus, 
Barri dicta antiquitus, 
In cujus parte proxima, 
Apparet rima modica, 
Ad quam si aurem commodes 
Sonum mirandum audies, 
Nunc quasi flatus follium 
Nunc metallorum sonitum 
Cotis ferri fricamina 
Fornacis nunc incendia. 
Sed hoc non est dimcile 
Ex fluctibus contingere 
Marinis subintrantibus 
Hunc sonum procreantibus." 

Glamorgan received a western addition and became 
a regular county in the reign of Henry VIII, but the 
ancient limit still divides the sees of Llandaff and St. 
David's. Both districts, by some accounts, were in- 
cluded in the ancient Morganwg. " Glamorgan", says 
Rees MeyTic, " differs from Morganwg, as the parti- 
culars from the general," Morganwg being the older 
name and far more comprehensive territory. VMor- 

mwg", says the same authority, "extended from 
rloucester Bridge to the Crumlyn Brook near Neath, 
if not to the Towy River, and included parts of the 
later shires of Gloucester, Monmouth, Hereford, Breck- 
nock, and Glamorgan, and it may be of Caermarthen." 
Glamorgan, on the other hand, seems to have been 
confined to that part of the present county that lies 
along the seaboard, south of the portway, or road, 
probably Boman, from Cardiff to Cowbridge and 
Neath, and this it is which is said to have been ruled 
by Morgan H3n, or the aged, in the middle of the 
tenth century. To this Prince has been attributed the 
name of his territory, Gwlad-Morgan or Morgan's 
country, and there is no evidence for its earlier use. 
The rule of his descendants, however, under the same 
name, seems to have included the northern or hill 
country ; and, finally, Fitz-Hamon and his successors, 
although of the ancient Morganwg they held only that 



16 THE LAND OF MORGAN : 

small part between the Rhymny and the Usk, always 
styled themselves"DominiMorganiae etGlamorganise^in 
their*charters, nor was the style altered even when the 
Monmouthshire lands passed away for a time by a 
co-heir to the Audleys. 

The Britons, both of East and West Britain, seem, 
when fairly conquered, to have accepted the Broman 
yoke with equanimity ; and it is evident, from the 
remains of Roman villas all over Wales, that the in- 
truders lived there in peace. This was never the case 
with the English. The Welsh never accepted their 
rule, and their language contains many expressions in- 
dicating their deadly and continued hate. Even in the 
Herefordshire Irchenfield, where many parishes bear 
English names, and which probably from the time of 
Alfred was part of an English county, and along the 
Shropshire border, within and about Offas Dyke, all 
the English dwellings were fortified. The points of 
contact between the Welsh and the various tribes of 
Northmen were numerous ; sometimes on the English 
border, where a large infusion of the names are English, 
sometimes along the sea-coast, where such names as 
Skokholm, Holm, Sealm, Gresholm, Gatholm, Strumble 
Head, Nangle, and Swansea, savour strongly of the 
BaJtic ; and it seems probable that in some degree to 
those early Vikings, as well as to the later settlements 
of Flemings or English, is due the Teutonic element 
which prevails in the topography of Lower Pembroke 
and Gower. In Glamorgan, however, the Welsh in the 
eleventh century seem pretty well to have recovered 
their territory, and to have disposed of their invaders 
as they disposed of Harold himself when he attempted 
to erect a hunting lodge for the Confessor at Port- 
skewit. 

Gwrgan, the penultimate Welsh prince who ruled 
over Glamorgan, is usually called by the Welsh Lord 
of Morganwg ; which, however, he certainly never held 
in its extended sense, his rule having been confined to 
the tract from the Usk to the Crumlyn, and from the 



ITS CONQUEST AND ITS CONQUERORS. 17 

Brecknock border to the sea. His name is said to be 

{>reserved in Gwrganstown, near Cowbridge, but he 
ives chiefly in the memory of the Welsh as having 
laid open the Common of Hirwaun, thence known 
as " Hirwaun-Wrgan", or " Gwrgan's long meadow", 
near Aberdare. 

Jestyn ap Gwrgan, his son and successor, had a 
powerful and ambitious neirfibour in Rhys ap Twdwr, 
Lord of Deheubarth, or the shires of Caermarthen, 
Cardigan, and Pembroke, with whom, as was natural 
to his race, he was at war ; and getting, or fearing to 
get, the worst in the struggle, he dispatched Einion ap 
Collwyn, a refiigee from Dyfed, who had lived mucn 
with the Normans, to Robert Fitz-Hamon for aid. 
Fitz-Hamon was a friend and follower of Rufiis, and 
Lord of the Honour of Gloucester, the magnificent 
heritage of Brictric, who is said to have refused the 
hand of Matilda, who afterwards married William the 
Conqueror, but never forgave the spretce injuriaformcB. 
The Roman de Brut says : — 

" Meis Brictrich Maude refusa 
Dunt ele mult se coru^a." 

Fitz-Hamon, not insensible to the attractions of a 
Marcher Lordship, crossed the Severn with his troops, 
and landed, it is said, at Porthkerry in or about 1093. 
Joining his forces to those of Jestyn, they met, attacked, 
and conquered Rhys at Bryn-y-beddau near Hirwaun, 
within or close upon the border of Brecknock, and slew 
him on the brow of an adjacent hill in Glyn Rhondda, 
thence called Penrhys. Goronwy, a son of Rhys, also 
was slain, and Cynan, another son, was drowned in a 
large marsh between Neath and Swansea, thence called 

PwU-Cynan. 

The Normans are said to have received their subsidy 

at the " Mill-tir-awr", or Golden Mile, near Bridgend, 

and to have departed by land. Einion, however, was 

refused his guerdon, the hand of Jestyns daughter ; on 

which he recalled the Normans, who had a fray at 

c 



18 THE LAND OF MORGAN: 

Mynydd Bychan, near Cardiff, at which Jestyn was 
slain. Einion's reward was the hill-lordship of Seng- 
henydd, but in the Welsh tradition he is always stig- 
matised as Einion-fradwr, " the traitor". Jestyn was 
aJso supported by Cedrych ap Gwaethfoed, Lord of 
Cardigan, but closely connected with Glamorgan, and 
ancestor of Lewis of Van and other of the older 
families in the east of the county. 

The proceedings of Fitz-Hamon during and upon his 
conquest have been woven into a legendary tale, very 
neat and round, very circumstantial, but as deficient in 
evidence as though it had proceeded from the pen of 
Geoffrey himself. The story, which in South Wales is 
an article of faith, explains the jealousy between Rhvs 
and Jestyn, resting, of course, upon a woman ; the 
cause of the special selection of Einion to bring in the 
Normans ; the battle of Hirwaun- Wrgan ; the death 
of Rhys and his sons ; the payment of the Normans in 
gold ; the refusal to Einion of his guerdon ; the retire- 
ment and return of the Normans ; the death of Jestyn 
and the occupation of his territory ; and, finally, lts 
partition between the conqueror and his twelve prin- 
cipal followers, and four or five Welshmen. 

By whom, or when this story was concocted is not 
known. It was certainly accepted without challenge 
in the reign of Elizabeth, and could scarcely have been 
circulated before the extinction of the Le Despencers, 
early in the fifteenth century. Probably its author 
was some follower of the Stradlings of St. Donats, a 
family somewhat given to literature, whose fictitious 
pedigree it sets forth as true. What is certain is, 
that whatever may have been the cause alleged, the 
invasion was not really due to any local quarrel, but 
was part of a settled policy for completing the English 
conquest ; a policy wnich, if not undertaken by Fitz- 
Hamon, would have been carried out by Rufus in 
person, or by some of the adventurers who about the 
same time were taking possession of Monmouth and 
Brecknock and the whole of South-west Wales. In- 



ITS CONQUEST AND ITS CONQUERORS. 19 

deed, Rufus awaited the result of Fitz-Hamon'8 ex- 
pedition at Alveston, between Bristol and Gloucester, 
and is supposed to have been only prevented by ill- 
ness from bearing a share in it. A few months after 
the main success there seems to have been a rising of 
the Welsh in Wentloog, Glamorgan, and Gower, the 
result of which, according to the Brut, was so far 
successful that it secured for them somewhat better 
terms, of which, however, there is but little evidence 
in what is known of the disposition of the lands. 

It is singular that of so notable a man as Fitz-Hamon 
so little should be known. His father, " Hamo Den- 
tatus", seems to have received favours from Duke 
William, who specially noticed his defection, with that 
of Neel de St. Sauveur, Grimont de Plessy, and Ranulph 
of Bayeux at Val-6-Dunes, as recorded in the Cronique 
des Ducs de Nwmandie : — 

" Par cel Rannol de Beiesin 
E par Neel de Costentin 
£ par Hamun uns Antecriz 
£ par Grimont des Plaiseiz. 



Felon, parjor e traitor 

£ vers Deu e vers lor Seignor 

Neel, Hamun, Ranol, Grimont." 



In the battle, among the leaders, was " Haimonem 
agnomine Dentatum", who led the first line of six 
thousand men and much distinguished himself, fighting 
hand to hand with the King of France, by whose 
attendants he was slain. He is there called Sieur de 
Thorigny, de Bersy, et de Creully, and his war-cry 
(according to the Roman de Rou), was " St. Amant"; 

" Et Han-a-dens va reclamant, 
4 St Amant', sire 'Saint Aniant'." 1 

Malmesbury speaks of Haimon as "Avum Roberti qui 
nostro tempore in Anglia multarum possessionum incu- 
bator extitit", but he was more probably the father. 

1 St. Armand was the patron saint of Thorigny, aometimes called 
M St, Amand de Thorigny". 

C2 



i^ 



20 THE LAND OF MORGAN: 

Hamo-a-Dens seems to have had two sons, for Hamo 
Dapifer is stated by Wm. of Jumi&ges to be brother of 
Robert Fitz-Hamon. " Dedit etiam Uli [Roberto Comiti 
Glouc :] rex terram Haimonis dapiferi, patrui videlicet 
uxoris suae." Hamo Dapifer, though omitted in the 
index to the folio Doinesday, appears as a tenant in 
chief in the record, holding in Essex fourteen parishes, 
and as " Haimo Vicecomes ' possessing others m Kent 
and Surrey. Hasted says he was also called " Creve- 
quer". He was one of the Judges in the great cause 
between Archbishop Lanfranc and Odo, and died child- 
less in the reign of Henry I. The land thus granted 
by Henry I to Earl Robert/s wife descended to her 
cnildren and their successors, and thus it was that 
Dunmow came to the De Clares. 1 

In the list of fees held under the Church of Bayeux, 
" Robertus filius Hamonis" is entered as holding ten 
fees of the Honour of Evreux under Bayeux, and he 
was hereditary standard-bearer to the Blessed Mary of 
Bayeux, as Earl Robert of Gloucester was after him. 
Meyrick calls him Earl of Corboile, but the Haymo 
who was Lord of the Castle of Corboile, died on his 
way to Rome, during the reign of Hugh Capet, and 
his son was Theobald, as is related in the life of Earl 
Burchard, who married his widow. 

Though not mentioned in Domesday, Fitz-Hamon 
was probably then in England, for Mr. Ellis has found 
his name connected with Gloucester, in what he re- 
gards as the notes whence that part of the survey was 
compiled. He was in the confidence of Rufus, and on 
the eve of the Welsh expedition received from him the 
Honour of Gloucester, whence, indeed, he drew, as was 
of course intended, men and means. On the death of 
Rufus, when Duke Robert landed at Dorchester and 
advanced in arms from Winchester to meet his brother, 
he was accompanied by Fitz-Hamon, who succeeded in 

1 Theofficeof Dapifer seems to have been held by the elderHamo; 
for, in 1088, Robert, son of Hamo Dapifer, aided Rufus in tho siege of 
Rochester Castle. 



ITS CONQUEST AND ITS CONQUEKORS. 21 

negotiating a peace between the brothers. As Seig- 
neur of Thorigny and Creully he was homager of 
Robert,"Homme de Duc", as it was called, but he seems 
thenceforward to have adhered to Henry, whom he 
supported in 1101 against the "Optimates", who sup- 
ported Bobert. In that year the letter written by 
Henry on his accession, to Anselm, is witnessed by 
Robert Fitz-Hamon and Hamo Dapifer. In 1105 he 
was captured during the siege of Bayeux, taking refuge 
in the Tour de Moustrier de Secqueville, which was 
burned. Henry, however, obtained his liberation im- 
mediately, for " moult il se fioit en Robert Fitz de 
Hamon". Very soon afterwards, in the same year, 
he was wounded in the temple at the siege of Caen, of 
which wound he lingered till 1107, when he died. 1 

The policy pursued towards the Welsh seems to 
have been severe, since only one Welsh lord occurs in 
the low country, which was parted between the in- 
vaders ; the few Welsh, with that one exception, who 
were allowed to hold considerable estates, being con- 
fined to the hills. In settling the lordship, the old 
Welsh divisions of cantreds and commotes were pre- 
served, and usually the parishes, but by a modification 
of these divisions the lordship was divided into body 
and members. The body, the Welsh " Bro", became the 
shire fee, and was placed under a sheriff ; and the 
members, though extending at points into the low- 
lands, corresponded for the most part to the "Blaenau". 
Besides these were the lord's private or demesne lands, 
the borough towns, and the possessions of the church 
of Llandaff. 

The shire fee or body was settled in accordance with 
the feudal system in use in Normandy. The private 
estates became manors, and in many cases also pro- 
bably new parishes. There were 36 and 3-5ths knights' 
fees, divided into about twenty-six lordships, held by 
castle-guard tenure of the Castle of Cardin, to which 

1 Chron. de Normandic in Rer. Gall. Script., xii, 628 ; xiii, 206, 
248, 250, 251 ; xv, 64. 



22 THE LAND OF MORGAN : 

the tenants were bound to repair when needed. 
Besides these there were mesne manors, subinfeuda- 
tions from the original tenants, holden of them and 
their castles, also by military service, the whole being 
held by the chief lord under the sovereign. 

The boroughs were six, Cardiff, Cowbridge, Kenfig, 
Llantrissant, Avan, and Neath. The four first held 
direct from the lord, and enjoyed the usual liberties 
and privileges, guaranteed by charter. Neath held 
originally from de Granville, but came by exchange to 
the lord. Avan, or Avene, stood out much longer, but, 
on the extinction of the elder line of Jestyn, that also 
fell in. Probably these boroughs were wholly of Nor- 
man introduction. Caerphilly has been classed with 
the boroughs, but it does not seem ever to have re- 
ceived a charter, or to have had a governing body. It 
sprung up at a later period with the castle, and no 
doubt fell with it into speedy and complete decay. 

The members were ten, of which two were sub- 
divided. They were Avan Wallia, Coyty , Glyn Rhondda, 
Llanblethian, Miscin, Neath citra and ultra, Ruthyn, 
Senghenydd supra and subter, TaJavan, and Tir-y-jarl 
or the earl's land. Tenure by gavelkind, called in 
Welsh " Rhan-tir", or partible land, is found about 
Bridgend and in a part of Monmouthshire. The prac- 
tice of dividing land equally between sons, and failing 
sons, between daughters, once common to all English 
socage tenants, is thought also to have prevailed in 
Celtic Britain, so that it is just possible that what is 
found in South Wales may be the remnant of a general 
usage, though the name of gavelkind is of English 
importation. The Welsh members of the shire had 
also their local courts, and their lords the right of 
"bren-o-ffwl", or pit and gallows, no great concession, 
as seven of the twelve were in the hands of the chief 
lord. Each member had its steward or seneschal, who 
presided at its courts, from which an appeaJ lay to the 
shire court at Cardiff. 

Although Llandaif was a very ancient ecclesiastical 



ITS CONQUEST AND ITS CONQUERORS. 23 

title, there seems to have been an attempt for a time 
to make Glamorgan the designation of the see. At 
Bishop Urban's consecration by Anselm he is called 
Bishop of Glamorgan, and the same appears in Eadmer. 
The Bishop, as head of the Church of Llandaff, and 
lord of that manor, had the prerogatives of a Lord 
Marcher, but his temporalities were confirmed to him 
by the chief lord, who claimed to hold possession of 
the see when vacant, though this right was afterwards 
challenged by the crown and surrendered. The Bishop 
held the lordship of Llandaff and the manor of St. 
Lythan, or Worlton, in the shire. 

The lands given by the Welsh princes to the colleges 
of Llantwit and Llancarvan seem to have been trans- 
ferred to other foundations ; for it is stated in the 
cartulary of St. Peter's at Gloucester that Fitz-Hamon 
gave to that House the church of St. Cadoc at Llan- 
carvan, and Penhon, with fifteen hides of land, pro- 
bably about 1102. Llancarvan is mentioned in a bull 
of Calixtus in 1119, and of Honorius in 1 1 28 ; and King 
Stephen, in confirming lands to Gloucester in 1136, 
mentions St. Cadoc of Llancarvan and Tregoff, among 
the gifts of Fitz-Hamon. On the whole, the church 
in the lordship had no reason to complain of the new 
lords. The Benedictine Abbeys of Neath and Margam 
were founded in 1130 and 1147,and their endowments 
rapidly augmented. Ewenny, as a cell of Gloucester, 
was founded about the same time, and therefore it 
is not probable that Fitz-Hamon or his successor con- 
fiscated any church lands ; and no doubt the local pro- 
perty held by the Abbey of Gloucester, and afterwards 
by their successors, the Dean and Chapter, represents 
the old Welsh endowments. 

The part played by the Crown in the conquest of 
Glamorgan has never been clearly defined. Fitz-Hamon 
certainly received the Honour of Gloucester to enable 
him to undertake it. It is certain that he did so with 
the consent of Rufus, and upon the condition that he 
held the land, as such conquests were elsewhere held, 



24 THE LAND OF MORGAN : 

of the Crown as a Marcher Lordship. What was the 
precise position of Lords Marchers has not been settled 
oy legal antiquaries. They received no charter defining, 
establishing, or limiting their ample privileges. No 
. sovereign would have been willing to grant in per- 
petuity privileges permitted to be assumed under tem- 
porary pressure, and the Marchers much preferred that 
their privileges, if not formally acknowledged to the 
fuU, should remain undefined. The privSeges were 
necessary, under the circumstances, but naturaily be- 
came circumscribed as Wales became settled; and the 
Crown, which retained the usual feudal rights over 
these lordships, had, from time to time, during a 
minority, or upon an escheat, an opportunity of check- 
ing encroachments. 

Glamorgan was by much the oldest shire in Wales, 
and one oi the very few not included in the Statutum 
Wallise of 1280. The statute of Henry VIII also 
treats it as an old county. In truth, the Lord of 
Glamorgan was little short of a crowned king. 
The king's writ did not run in his territory; he 
had his sheriff, his chancery, his great seal, his 
courts civil and criminal, rights of admiralty and 
of wreck, of life and death, an ambulatory council 
or parliament, jura regalia, fines, oblations, escheats, 
wardships, marriages, and other feudal incidents. 
Some of his greater tenants held per baroniam> 
others by grand and petit sergeanty, socage, and villen- 
age. He held, sede vacante, the temporalities of the 
bishopric, he was patron of the principal abbeys and of 
the municipal boroughs, and he himself held in capite 
de corona. In common with other Marcher Lordships 
Glamorgan had also this in common with an Honour, 
that, when it was, by an escheat or during a minority, 
vested in the crown, it did not become merged, or lose 
its individuaJity. The personal service due from the 
military tenants to the lord was not transferred to the 
crown, but, if they so pleased, could be compounded 
for in money. Nor were the Marcher privileges mere 



ITS CONQUEST AND ITS CONQUERORS. 25 

assertions. They were regularly exercised, and occa- 
sionally pleaded in the king's courts. A plea is preserved 
in the records of the Curia Regis, 8th July 1199, and 
noted by Palgrave, in which the sheriff of Hereford, 
when ordered by the king's court to take possession of 
Bredwardine castle, protests that he cannot do so, it 
being out of his bailliewick, and Wm. de Braose, the 
Marcher Lord, declares that neither king, sheriff, nor 
justice Kas any right to enter upon his liberty. Also, 
in 1302, another William de Braose claimed in parlia- 
ment that in his liberty of Gower he had his chancellor 
and chancery and seaJ, the judgment of life and death, 
and cognizance of all pleas, whether of crown or others, 
arising in the lordship, between all persons whomso- 
ever. Similar statements are pleaded by the de Clares, 
Earls of Gloucester, in bar of appeaJ from their courts 
to Westminster. Also in a cause reported in the Cotton 
MS. ( Vitell; C. x, f. 172 b ), where Bichard Syward, 1248, 
appeals to the Crown against a judgment in the Earl 
of Gloucester^s court in Glamorgan, the Earl demurs to 
the appeal on the ground that Syward is his vassal, 
and that the transaction, the cause of the proceedings, 
was in Glamorgan. He suggests, however, a sort of 
compromise, a royal commission to report upon the case 
to the king in person, which was accepted. 

No wonder that the great English lords coveted the 
Welsh lordships. Unproductive in money or pastoral 
wealth, they were inaccessible, contained excellent 
soldiers, and by a temporary arrangement with the 
Welsh leaders a Marcher could at any time securely 
defy a weak Sovereign. 

There is direct evidence for but few of Fitz-Hamon's 
gmnts, or even for the names or numbers of his prin- 
cipal followers. There is known but one extant charter 
by him relating to Wales, and by that he grants the 
fishery of an arm of the Taff at Cardiff to Tewkesbury 
Abbey. Other of his charters, relating to other counties, 
are however extant, and from the witnesses and similar 
sources the names have been established of a few of his 



26 THE LAND OF MORGAN : 

principaJ followers, and of several others who it is 
highly probable were of the number. What makes it 
probable that the greater number of tenants whose 
names appear in the twelfth or early in the thirteenth 
century were derived from original settlers, is that 
most held directly of the lord. Of mesne or subordi- 
nate manors there were comparatively few, and those 
of course may have been created at any time up to the 
passing of the celebrated statute "Quia emptores", 
which seems to have been acted up to in Glamorgan, 
whether recognized or not as binding. 

The records of Glamorgan for the first century and a 
half from the Conquest are veiy scanty indeed, chiefly 
charters from the lords to their dependants and to the 
Church, though usually with many local witnesses. 
Some of Fitz-Hamons followers seem to have staid 
but a short time, and, if they received grants of land, 
to have disposed of it, and in consequence they have 
escaped notice altogether; but even of the greater 
lords, who founded local families, the origin and early 
descent has hitherto been involved in much obscurity. 

Under the feudal system the relations between the 
crown and its tenants in chief, and between these and 
their subtenants, were very intimate ; the crown per- 
petually claiming services or their redemption in money, 
' the tenants resisting, and all parties appeaJing to grants 
and charters, extents or surveys, remissions or excep- 
tions for and against the claims of wardship, livery, re- 
lief, scutage, escheat and the like, all which were set 
down with an accuracy well befitting transactions 
relating to property. 

Relations similar to these in substance, but modified 
by the delegated powers of the Marcher Lords, sub- 
sisted also in Wales. Each Marcher, while holding in 
chief from the Crown, was himself in many respects a 
sovereign in his relations to his own tenants and their 
sub-tenants. Every manor in the March was held 
mediately or immediately of a Lord Marcher, and its 
mesne lord paid his reliefs, wardships, scutage, and 



ITS CONQUEST AND ITS CONQUERORS. 27 

wardsilver; and each had its customs, exemptions, 
payments and quittances recorded in the chancery, 
which it was the prerogative of every Marcher to hold, 
attached to the court of his Caput Baronice, which took 
cognisance, in the first instance or by appeal, of every 
cause, civil or criminal, arising within its bounds. 
There must, therefore, have been accumulated in the 
severaJ chanceries a mass of records similar to those 
which, from the other parts of the kingdom, were pre- 
served in the royal courts and the exchequer. 

What then has become of these records, which were, 
in fact, the early title deeds of the Welsh estates ? It 
is scarcely surprising that the records even of the most 
powerful private families in Wales should have been 
destroyed, so frequent were the incursions and retalia- 
tions of the two parties, who, of course, burned and 
destroyed everything within their reach ; but this does 
not apply in the same degree to the records of the 
Marchers, whose castles were strong and well garrisoned, 
and in many cases, as at Chepstow, Ludlow, and 
Shrewsbury, scarcely at all exposed to be taken and 
sacked. Cardiff indeed was once or twice in the hands 
of the Welsh ; and Glendowr, who was its last invader 
during its existence as a Marcher Lordship, is supposed 
to have destroyed all he found, which may perhaps 
account for the disappearance of the earlier records ; 
but even then there must have been many of a later 
date, accumulated under the Beauchamps and Nevilles, 
and Jasper Tudor ; and these also are lost. The lord- 
ship then reverted to the Crown, and as Edward VI 
and Elizabeth, while selling the lands, retained the 
seigniorial powers, it might be expected that their 
officers would take charge of the records of the chan- 
cery. Certainly there are very few in private hands, 
and it is understood that neither at Badminton, nor 
Wilton, nor at Cardiff, are there any documents re- 
lating to the seigniory of Glamorgan, or any relating 
to Glamorgan, of earlier date than the entrance of the 
Herberts into that seigniory. 



28 THE LAND OF MORGAN : 

Some have suggested that when the Marcherships 
were abolished or vested in the Crown, and the govern- 
ment of WaJes was administered by the Council at 
Ludlow, the records were all transferred thither, and 
perished in the subsequent civil wars ; others suppose 
them to have been removed to the repositories in 
London, and still to slumber unknown in that vast and 
long neglected thoueh valuable collection, a theory 
which recent researcn renders scarcely tenable. The 
subject of the disappearance of the South-Welsh re- 
cords is one of considerable interest, and it is to be 
hoped that it will be investigated by one of the able 
antiquaries on the staff of the Kecord Office, since none 
other could direct the necessary researches. 

Fortunately for posterity, aJthough the records of 
the transactions of the Marcher Lords with their 
tenants, of the Mareschals and De Clares, the Mor- 
timers, Montgomerys, Newmarchs, Bellomonts, Braoses, 
Bohuns and Hastings' ; with their knights and military 
dependents, are lost, a better lot has attended the re- 
cords of their transactions with the Crown ; and the 
inquisitions taken upon their deaths or escheats, and 
the detail of their feudal services, are in great measure 
preserved. 

Also, it has fortunately happened that the Marcher 
Lords, from their detached position and great military 
power, were frequently tempted into rebellion, and 
their estates suffered forfeiture or escheat; then, or 
during a minority, the Crown stopped in and seized 
upon or administered the lordship, and when this oc- 
curred the dues were usually paid to the officers of the 
* Crown, and the transactions were recorded in the re- 
cords of the realm, and are preserved. Thus the 
Honours of Gloucester and Brecknock were in the 
hands of Henry I and Stephen. Richard and John 
both held the Honour of Gloucester, and the conipo- 
tus roll returned by their officer gives much informa- 
tion as to the internal state of Glamorgan at that re- 
mote period, which would otherwise have been lost. 



ITS CONQUEST AND ITS CONQUERORS. 29 

There is also another source, both copious and accu- 
rate, of which little heed has hitherto been taken, but 
which throws considerable light upon the names and 
origin of the followers of Fitz-Hamon into Glamorgan. 
It appears that almost all who joined in the conquest, 
or settled in the conquered territory, came from the 
Honour of Gloucester, and were therefore connected 
with one or other of the shires of Gloucester, Somer- 
set, Devon, Dorset, or Wilts ; and as they were either 
landowners, or the cadets of landowners, in those 
counties, their names occur in the local records, which- 
not unfrequently explain various particulars as to their 
descent and connections. 

Of the leading settlers, whose names occur in such 
records as exist in Glamorgan, some certainly con- 
temporary with Fitz-Hamon, others who, or whose 
fathers, may, many of them, be reaJly of that date, de 
Granville held lands at Bideford, Turberville at Bere- 
Turberville, St. Quintin at Frome-St.-Quintin, Umfra- 
ville at Down-Umfraville, Halwey at Combe-Halwey or 
Hawey, Reigny at Esse and Culm-Reigny, Bawdrip at 
Bawdrip, Cogan at Huntspill, Bonvile at Bonvileston in 
Devon ; while Barry, Bawcen, Butler, Corbet, Dennis, 
Fleming, Joel, Le Sore, Luvel, Maisy, Norris, Payn, 
Sandford, Scurlage, Sturmy, St. John, Valognes, 
Walsh, and scores of others, occur in various parts of 
the Honour, and are found in either the eleventh, 
twelfth, or thirteenth century , in Glamorgan. 

Many of the settlers reversed the usual practice in 
England, and, as in Ireland, gave to their lands their 
own names ; sometimes, it may be, because they found 
the Welsh name hard to pronounce ; more frequently 
because their castles and the limits of their estates 
were altogether new. Thus Barry, Bonvileston, 
Flemingston, Colwinston, Constantineston or Coston, 
Gileston, Laleston, Nicholaston, Marcross, Sully, all 
names of parishes, were evidently taken from their 
lords, and possibly were carved out of earlier Welsh 
parishes, which were usually very large indeed. St. 



30 THE LAND OF MORGAN: 

George's, and several other parishes taking name 
from English saints, are no doubt of the same class. 
There are also many private estates, sometimes manors, 
but not parishes, bearing the names of the intruding 
owners. Such are Cantelupeston, Maes-Syward, Odins- 
fee, Sigginston, Samonston, Picketston, Lloyn-y- 
Grant, Beganston, Sturmy-Down, Walterston, and the 
like. 

Fitz-Hamon, though certainly a severe conqueror, 
probably, like the greater conqueror under whom he 
had served, did not disturb the Welsh more than was 
necessary for his own security, though that, no doubt, 
is admitting a good deal. Einion and other Welsh 
lords were permitted to retain large tracts on the hills ; 
and of four of the sons of Jestyn, the eldest was 
allowed to hold a member-lordship in the low country 
on at least equal terms with the greatest of the Nor- 
mans. The position held by the descendants of Cara- 
doc ap Jestyn is unlike any retained in England by 
men of pure Saxon descent. They built a castle on 
the Avan, established under its protection a chartered 
borough town, were large benefactors to Neath and 
Margam, two Norman Abbeys, burying at the latter, 
and, as their seals show, used armorial bearings and 
armour like the Normans. With all this they con- 
tinued for four generations to bear Welsh names, and 
to sympathise with the Welsh people ; for which they 
were sometimes summoned to do personal homage to 
the king, and sometimes called upon to give hostages 
for their conduct. It was Morgan ap Caradoc who, in 
1188, con voyed Archbishop Baldwin across the treach- 
erous sands of Avan and Neath, on his way to Swansea. 
Morgan Gam, his successor, was shut up m an English 
prison by the Earl of Gloucester, and in reprisal he 
burned the EaiTs grange at Kenfig. Their original 
tenure, like that of the other Welsh lords, was witnout 
any definite service, but they acquired a commote held 
b} 7 sergeanty, adopted Avene as a sirname, intermarried 
with the Norman families, added the great lordship of 



IT8 CONQUEST AND ITS CONQUERORS. 31 

Cilvae and the manors of Sully and Eglwys-Brewis to 
their possessions, and finally, in the eighth descent, 
ended in an heiress, who married Sir William Blount, 
and exchanged her lands for others in England. To 
another son of Jestyn was allotted the lordship of 
Ruthyn; to another, Rees, the lands of Solven, called 
thence " Rees-Sol ven". 

Fitz-Hamons personal share in the conquered land is 
said to have included the towns of Cardiff, Cowbridge, 
and Kenfig, the Castles of Cardiff and Kenfig, the 
shire fee or body of the lordship, and as demesne lands 
Miscin, Glyn Rhondda, Tir-y-Iarl, and Boverton or 
Llantwit. 

Of the Norman settlers there were six, unquestion- 
ably contemporary with Fitz-Hamon, whose power was 
far more considerable than that of the others. These 
were de Granville, de Turberville, de Londres, Syward, 
St. Quentin, Umfravile and Sully. Bichard de Gran- 
ville is reported to have been Fitz-Hamon'8 brother, 
and there certainly occurs a Ricardus filius Hamonis in 
1096 as a baron, etc, with possessions in Normandy 
(Rerum GalL, scrip. xiv, 146). He, or his son, founded 
Neath Abbey, in 1129, attaching it to the House of 
Savigny in Normandy, and retired to Bideford, where 
they became the progenitors of one of the great families 
of the West, achieving high military and naval fame, 
and not unknown in literature. 

Pagan de Turberville had Coyty, much celebrated in 
bardic story as the seat of a royai lineage. He, or his 
son, strengthened their position by marrying the dis- 
possessed Welsh heiress. The family always showed 
Welsh sympathies, and continued to hold a very high 
rank in the county until the fifteenth century, when 
the main line failed, as the cadet lines have since aJso 
failed, so that there remains now but the echo of this 
very considerable name. 

St. Quintin settled at Llanblethian, but they have 
left no special tradition or mark in the county, from 
which before 1249 the family was gone, and Syward 



32 THE LAND OF MORGAN . 

held their fees. Probably they resided mainly else- 
where. Their heiress, no doubt, though the actual 
pedigree is not preserved, was the lady whose blood, 
mingled with that of Fitz-Hugh and of Marmion, 
centred in Parr of Kendal, and now flows in the veins 
of the Herberts of Wilton. 

Syward had the lordship and castle of Talavan, and 
the sub-manor of Merthyr Mawr, and, before his fall, 
in 1249, the castle of Llanblethian. He was one of a 
turbulent race, alternately useful and injurious to their 
lords, and remembered as having carried on a plea 
against Gilbert Earl of Gloucester, into which largely 
entered the very curious legal question, how far an 
appeal lay from the Earl Marcher's court to that of the 
King at Westminster. 

Of these lords, de Granville, de Turberville, St. 
Quintin and Syward, held member-lordships, with 
powers of life and death and other Marcher privileges. 

De Londres, probably more powerfiil than any of the 
others, held the lordship of Ogmore with the sub-manor 
of Dunraven. The family territory was, however, 
mostly in Caermarthenshire, where they held the great 
lordship of Carnwilthion, of which Kidwelly was the 
chief seat. They built Ogmore castle, but mostly re- 
sided at Kidwelly. William de Londres and Maurice, 
his son, were the founders of Ewenny Priory. The 
heiress of de Londres maxried de Cadurcis or Chaworth, 
and their heiress, Henry Earl of Lancaster. The lord- 
ship of Ogmore has never had a resident lord, but on 
the other hand it has been held together, and is now 
a part of the Duchy of Lancaster. 

The other considerable settlers were Umfravile and 
Sully. Umfravile is stated by genealogists to have 
been the head of that family, cadets of which settled 
at Prudhoe, and became Earls of Angus. The connec- 
tion seems probable, for the Glamorgan Umfraviles 
sealed with a hexapetalous flower, which also forms a 
part of the Angus coat. They built Penmark castle, 
and there is some reason to suppose that the St. Johns, 



ITS CONQUEST AND ITS CONQUERORS. 



33 



who married their heiress, held Fonmon manor under 
them. Somery, of Dinas Powis, ought perhaps to be 
added to the above "Barones majores", since they were 
Barons of Dudley castle, and held their Glamorgan fees 
for some centuries ; but they do not seem to have taken 
a very active part in local affairs. 

The earliest inquisition extant of the Lordship of 
Glamorgan was probably taken in 1262, on the acces- 
sion of Earl Gilbert de Clare, and therefore one hundred 
and seventy years or so after the conquest. This gives 
a list of all the holders of lay fees, who held in capite 
of the lord, and the service due from each. The table 
is most interesting, and has only lately been dis- 
covered. 

The names and holdings are : 



G.Turberville inNewcastle^fee. 
Nerberd in Lancovian 
Sandford in Leckwitb 
Scurlag in Llanbarry 
H. Sully in Pentyrch 
Pireton in Nova-Villa 



: 



99 



»9 



99 



Constantine in Lanmaes J fee. 
deGloucestria in VVrencbeater 
de Kaerditf in Lanirid 
OHfford in Kenfeis 
Basset in St. Hilary 
Sullv in Lanmaes 



»9 
99 



99 



99 



99 



Butler in Marcross 
Constantine in Coston 
Hawey in St. Donats 
Norris in Penllyne 
Sy ward in Merthyr-Mawr 

Cogan in Cogan 
Somery in Dinas Powis 
Corbet in St. Nicholas 
De Londres in Ogmore 



1 fee. 

1 

1 

1 

1 



99 



99 



99 



Le Sore in St. Fagans 
Walsh in Landoch 
de Wincestria in Landan 
Mayloc in Capelia 



1 fee. 
1 
1 
1 



99 
99 
99 



99 



2 fees. Nerberd in Abron Thawe 4 fees. 
2 \ „ Sully in Sully aud Wenvoe 4 

3 „ Umfrevile in Penmark 4 
4 



99 



9) 



99 



The abbot of Margam held Langewy, probably a lay 
fee, but no service is named. Turberville held Coyty 
per baroniam, also described as grand sergeanty. Of 
the Welsh lords, Morgan Vachan (of Avan) held in 
Baglan half a commote by Welshery ; no service, but 
a horse and arms at the death of the tenant, the old 
form of heriot. Two sons of Morgan ap Cadewalthan 
held half a commote in Glyn Rhondda; no service. 
Griffith ap Rees held two commotes, an immense hold- 



D 



34 THE LAND OF MORGAN: 

ing, in Senghenydd : he was the ancestor of Lewis of 
Van ; no service. Morediht ap Griffith held one com- 
mote in Machheir, probably Miscin ; no service. De 
Granville's lordship is not mentioned, it having lapsed 
to the chief lord, as probably had those of Syward and 
St. Quintin. Marcross had been succeeded by de Pin- 
cerna or Butler. Berkerolles had not yet gi ven place to 
Nerberd, nor Stradling to Hawey. Fleming probably 
had not arrived, and Bawdrip was then only a burgess 
of Cardiff. St. John of Fonmon and Butler of Dun- 
raven are not named. The latter certainly was a 
subtenant, and possibly this was so with St. John. 
Probably fbr the same reason, as not holding in capite, 
are omitted Joel, Odin, Barry, and Bonvfle, though 
they appear as inquisitors. It is to be observed also 
that in these inquisitions the jurors at Cardiff are all 
English. At Llantrissent and at Llangonydd all are 
Welsh. At Neath only three of the twelve are English. 
This shows how largely the Welsh element prevailed, 
and how completelv the Welsh were trusted with the 
ordinary duties of free-tenants. The next extant sur- 
vey of the shire was taken in 1320, about sixty years 
later, and in that time considerable changes had taken 
place. The knights' fees are still numbered at 36 and 
a fraction ; but of the former tenants there remain the 
names but of ten — the Abbot, Basset, Corbet, Mayloc, 
Nerber, Norris, Turberville, Umfravile, Walsh, and de 
Winton ; and of these there remained, in the reign of 
Elizabeth, but two — Basset, and a cadet of Turberville. 

The proximity of Strongbow^s estates and castle of 
Chepstow, and the passage of the road thence to Mil- 
ford across Glamorgan, seem to have led many of the 
settlers to a further adventure in Ireland, where we 
find such names as Barry, Cogan, Basset, Cadoc, Bonville, 
Fleming, Kenfig, Lamays, Landochan, Norris, London, 
Penrice, Swaynsey, Siward, Sandford, Newton, Scur- 
lock, Walsh, and a great number of Welshmen desig- 
nated by a christian name, and as of Cardiff. 

The position of the English in Wales during the two 



ITS CONQUEST AND ITS CONQUERORS. 35 

centuries following the conquest, in fact until the re- 
duction of the Principality by Edward I, was such as 
to make a castle a necessity ; so much so, that there 
is no trace of a licentia crenellare having been thought 
necessary under the Marcher rule, though the Marcher 
Lord of Whittington in Salop had such a licence from 
Henry III. Every landowner's house was literally 
his castle. In parts of Glamorgan they stood so close 
that it is difficult to understand whence their owners 
derived their revenues. For example, within a radius 
of six miles from Barry, half the circle being occupied 
by the sea, were twelve castles ; and in the county, 
and mainly in its southern part, were from thirty to 
forty, of which but one, Aberavan, belonged to a Welsh 
Lord. Most of these castles were the residences of 
private persons, and were built for the defence of the 
estate and its tenants ; others, the property of the chief 
Lord, were constructed for the defence of the country, 
and were so placed as to command the passes by which 
the Welsh were accustomed to descend upon the plain. 
The sites of most of the Glamorgan castles are known, 
and of many of them the ruins remain, though they 
raxely contain masonry of an earlier date than the reign 
of Henry III. Cardiff, however, boasts a shell keep of 
Norman date, as is probably its immense outer wall, 
attributed to Robert Earl of Gloucester. The annals 
of Margam attribute the building of the town of Cardiff 
to the previous reign, but Carcuff is certainly a much 
older place, and probably was founded when the Roman 
road was laid out, to guard the passage of the Eiver 
Taff. The earthworks of the Castle were originally 
rectangular, and probably the work of the Romanised 
Britons, on the withdrawal of the Legions. The mound, 
like that of Caerleon, is certainly the work of later 
invaders from England. Ogmore has a square keep 
of undoubted Norman pattern, doubtless the work of 
the first or second de Londres; and at Penllyne are 
fragments of a similar keep, containing some curious, 
and it may be, early, herring-bone work, and possibly 

D 2 



36 THE LAND OF MORGAN : 

Earl Robertfs work, and so a little earlier than even 
Robert Norris, who seems to have been the first, or 
a very early, grantee. At Newcastle by Bridgend are 
the gateway and the original wall of a castle, certainly 
early, because it gives name to the parish, and the 
masonry of which is evidently of Norman date and 
very peculiar in the pattern of its mouldings. Here, as 
;enerally in the Norman buildings in Glamorgan, 
iutton stone is employed. It is uneertain by whom 
Newcastle was built. The name of Oldcastle is pre- 
served in the adjacent town of Bridgend, though 
where it precisely was, or what it was, is not known. 

Of Early English castles the rectangular keep at 
Fonmon, still inhabited, is the best, and indeed the 
only tolerably perfect example. The base of the tower 
of Whitchurch is in that style, as is part of Coyty; 
and in the foundations of Sully Castle, opened some 
years ago, were Early English fragments. Also, in 
the centre of the later house of Dunraven, some 
masonry of Early English aspect is walled in, and is 
probably part of the castle of Arnold Butler. 

During the troubled reign of Henry III, a great age 
for castle building in Wales, many strong places in 
Glamorgan seem to have been renewed. Castell Coch 
and Caerphilly were then built ; and to that reign or 
that of Edward I are due the fine gateways at Neath 
and Llanblethian, a smaller one at Barry, parts of 
Cardiff and Morlais, the ancient wall of St. Fagans, 
and probably the fragment at Llantrissant. The gate 
house of the old episcopaJ palace at Llandaff is excellent 
Decorated. Those of Pencoed and Castleton are appa- 
rently later. The central building at Cardiff and the 
polygonal tower, now, alas ! dwaried and buried under 
modern additions, were the work of Bichard Beau- 
champ, Earl of Warwick, the builder of a similar but 
far grander tower at that castle. St. Donats, the most 
complete castle in South Wales, is verv late, as is much 
of Coyty. Besides these, of doubtful date are Dinas 
Powis, the fragments of St. George's and Peterston, 



ITS CONQUEST AND ITS CONQUEROBS. 37 

parts of Kenfig, Penmark, and Castleton, the ditches 
and a few fragments of Talavan and Bonvileston, and 
the foundations of Llanquian. Avan, Wenvoe, and 
Wrinston are utterly gone. At Van, Beauprfc, Cogan- 
Pill, Cardiff, Cadoxton, West Orchard, Aberthin, 
Llanveithin, Llanvihangel, Llantrithyd, Pencoed, Caer- 
wiggau, Sutton, and Llancayach are ancient houses, 
some very perfect. Carnllwyd is excellent Decorated, 
as is Cantleston and part of Flimston, where the court 
has an embattled wall. At Castell-y-Mynach are re- 
mains of the Hall, and in the walls of the Manorial 
House of Talygarn, lately recast, were found windows 
of the time of Henry V. 

Many of the churches, and notably the cathedral, 
contain Norman work; and in others, where the church 
has been rebuilt, the font and the holy water stoop, on 
a stunted column, are of that date. Throughout the 
lordship most churchyards retain the polygonal stepped 
bsuse of a cross, and of some such crosses the shaft is 
preserved, and of one or two the actual carved stone 
which formed the apex, and represented the crucifixion. 
In the churchyard of St. Donats is one of these crosses 
of remarkable elegance. It has been copied at Llandaff, 
but in dimensions, and placed in a position, entirely fatal 
to its effect. There aiso remain a few of the upright 
shafts of crosses of an earlier date, carved in bold basket 
work patterns, and usually set upright in the ground 
without base or pedestal. Time, neglect, and the 
labours, not uncalled for, of the diocesan architect are 
annually bringing about the destruction of these re- 
mains and, what is, archaeologically, much the same 
thing, the restoration of the ancient edifices. 

The gentry and yeomanry of the lordship, that is, 
those who have any real claim to antiquity of descent, 
are still divided into the pure Welsh and the descend- 
ants of the Norman settlers. The genealogies of these 
settlers, " Advenae" as they are styled in the local 
pedigree books, are scarcely so well preserved as those 
of the corresponding class in England, but their estates 



38 THE LAND OP MORGAN : 

have usually been known, and their possession of a 
surname gives a facility for tracing their descent which 
does not extend to the natives. The Welsh genealogies 
pretend to far higher ajitiquity, and are recorded with 
much greater ftdness of detail. Unfortunately their 
compilers — it were discourteous, perhaps unjust, to say 
their authors — seldom condescend to mention the place 
of residence of the families, or to introduce a date. 
These omissions — the absence of surnames — and the 
very limited number of Christian names in use, and 
their frequent repetition in the same family, not to 
mention the frequent introduction of a train of natural 
children, and the names and pedigrees of their mothers, 
reduce an English genealogist to despair. " Oh!" said 
a late Garter, indicating the genealogical MSS. left to 
the College of Arms by Sir Isaac Heard, " Oh ! those 
are Welsh pedigrees ; we have nothing to say to them." 
In truth the Welsh counties were seldom, if ever, in- 
cluded in the Visitations of the English Heralds. 

And yet these Welsh genealogies are really extremely 
curious, and for the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries 
probably fairly true. To what extent the Welsh bards 
preserved private pedigrees is unknown, but, no doubt, 
Welsh genealogy received a great impulse on the acces- 
sion of the House of Tudor, and in consequence of the 
inquiries set on foot by Henry VII, and by the Her- 
berts. Still the extant manuscripts, of which there 
are many, are rarely, if ever, older than the reign of 
Elizabeth, and more generally, date from those of the 
lst James and Charles. Looking to the genealogies 
of Glamorgan, what is most remarkable is the small 
number of stocks whence the native families are said 
to be derived. These are mainly five only; Jestyn 
ap Gwrgan, Einion ap Collwyn, Bleddyn ap Maen- 
arch, Gwilim ap Jenkyn, Llewelyn ap Ivor, and 
Gwaethvoed. From these are deduced from three to 
four hundred distinct families. Roughly, it may be 
stated, from Caradoc ap Jestyn^ 26 ; from Bhys, 12 ; 
from Madoc, 30 ; and from Griffith ap Jestyn, 3. 
Einion ap Collwyn, notwithstanding the stigma at- 



ITS CONQUEST AND ITS CONQUERORS. 39 

tached to his name, is recorded as the ancestor of 
99 families; Bleddyn ap Maenarch of 46, besides 
those pertaining to Brecknock; Gwilim ap Jenkyn, 
74 ; Llewelyn ap Ivor, 23 ; and Cydrich and Aidan 
ap Gwaethvoed, 21 and 50. Besides these were a 
few others, families of no great note, whose remote 
ancestor is not recorded, and who chiefly inhabited the 
hill country north of Bridgend and Margam. 

Of the descendants of the above patriarchs, among 
the best known were, from Caradoc, Avan of Avan, 
Evans of Gnoll and Eagle's Bush, Pryce of Briton 
Ferry, Williams of Blaen-Baglan, Thomas of Bettws, 
and Loughor of Tythegston. From Rhys ap Jestyn 
came Williams of Ehiffi^-Clvdach, Penry of Keeding, 
and Llewelyn of Ynis-y-Gerwn. From Madoc ap 
Jestyn, Llewelyn of Caerwiggau, and the numerous 
descendants of Ievan Mady. From Einion sprang 
Gibbon of Trecastle, Prichard of Collenna, Pnce of 
Glyn Nedd, Prichard of Ynis Arwed, PoweU of Loy- 
darth, Energlyn, Maesteg, and Baydon, Cradock of 
Swansea and of Cheriton, and PoweU of Llandow. 
Bleddyn ap Maenarch was the forefather of Jenkins of 
Hensol, Griffith Gwyr, Penry of Lanedi, WiUiams of 
Bettws, Llewelyn of Ynis Simoon, Evans of Cilvae, 
Jones of Fonmon, Price of PenUergaer, Gethyn of 
Glyn Tawe, Bowen of Court House and Kittle, PoweU 
of Swansea and Seys of Boverton. Of aU these the 
only known descendants in the legitimate male line are 
Evans of Eagle's Bush, Prichard of CoUenna, and Jones 
of Fonmon. 

From Gwilim ap Jenkyn sprang the veiy copious 
race of Herbert, of whom about seventy-four distinct 
branches may be traced, very many settled in Glamor- 
gan under various names, of whom were Baglan of 
CamUwydd, Gwyn of Llansannor, Thomas of Llanvi- 
hangel and Pwllyvrach, Herbert of Cardiff, of Cogan, 
and of CUybebiU. 

Llewelyn ap Ivor was of Tredegar, whence came a 
number of famUies, almost all bearing the name of 



40 THE LAND OF MORGAN : 

Morgan, of whom were those of Coed-y-Gores, Pen- 
Uwynsarth, Rubina, Ruperra, and Cilfynydd. 

Uwaethvoed was the fruitful stocK of Mathew of 
Llandaff, with about twenty-three cadet branches, of 
which the most conspicuous were those of Badir, 
Aberaman, Castell-y-Mynach, St-y-Nill, Maes Mawr, 
and Miros. These came from Aidan. From Gweristan 
ap Gwaethfoed came Thomas of Blaenbradach, a house 
unusually bare of cadet branches ; and from Cydrich ap 
Gwaethvoed the immensely iiumerous family of Lewis 
of Van, of whom may be mentioned Williams otherwise 
Cromwell, Prichard of Llancayach, and the Lewises of 
Cilvach-Vargoed, Penmark, Lystalybont, Glyn Taff, 
Llanishen, Newhouse, and Greenmeadow or Pant- 
wynlas, besides a flourishing branch in the United 
States represented by Mr. W. F. Lewis of Phila- 
delphia. The elder branch, but in the female line 
only, is represented by Lord Windsor, the owner of 
Van. Of the strangers from England there remains 
extant in unbroken male descent, one only, Basset of 
Bonvileston, whose ancestor came in about the time 
of Richard I. Of the original Welsh families in male 
descent there remain two only, Lewis of Pantwynlas, 
and Thomas of Blaenbradach. 

It is to be regretted that these Welsh genealogies 
have not received a criticai examination. It is true 
that they are without dates, and present but few of the 
points by which an English pedigree can be checked 
and proved; but allowance must be made for the 
habits of the people, who had little idea of the accu- 
racy derived from records. Here and there, where a 
name occurs in the county records, as in the Fine and 
Docket book of the great Sessions, or where a will has 
been preserved in the Llandaff registry, they can be 
proved to be correct. For the rest it may be said that 
they seem probable enough; the number of descents 
given through the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fiffceenth 
centuries is not, on the face of it, fabulous ; and in the 
various manuscripts there is neither enough coincidence 



ITS CONQQEST AND ITS C0NQUER0RS. 41 

to indicate collusion, nor sufficient difference to destroy 
all belief. Unfortunately, neither Sir T. Phillipps nor 
Sir S. Meyrick, though they printed collections of 
genealogies, knew or cared enough about the matter 
to edit them; that is, to collate and compare the 
several versions, and to seek and import such collateral 
evidence as might be found. 

There is no other part of the kingdom in which so 
marked a line still remains drawn between the residents 
of pure British descent and the settlers from England, 
even after centuries of residence, much intermarriage, 
and no difference of religion. What is at this time 
in progress, the opening up of the coal field, and the 
construction of docks and railways, is doing much to 
break up the peculiarities of the county. The limits of 
manors are no longer preserved. Manor courts are 
rarely held ; copyholds are becoming enfranchised ; chief 
rents abolished by mutual consent and composition. 
On the other hand, though the "Jura regalia" and 
Marcher prerogatives were withheld from the an- 
cestors of the present owner of Cardiff Castle, his 
rights of common and to minerals have been preserved, 
and constitute a very valuable property. 



42 



THE CHIEF LORDS. 

EARLS ROBERT AND WILLIAM OF GLOUCESTER. 



Robert Fitz-Hamon, of whom and his conquest some- 
thing has already been said, married Sybil, a daughter 
of Roger de Montgomery, and sister to Robert de 
Belesme, and by her had four daughters. At the 
instance of his wife he endowed the old Mercian 
foundation of Tewkesbury, founded in 715, and of 
which Brichtric had been the patron; and this so 
liberally that he was ever regarded as the real founder. 
He found it subject to Cranbourn in Dorset, but re- 
versed their relative position by the removal of the 
Cranbourn Priory to the new establishment, of which 
it was continued as a cell only. The new Tewkesbury 
was founded in 1102, and was confirmed by William 
Rufus in a charter of which Fitz-Hamon was one of 
the witnesses, as he was also of that king's charters 
to St. Peter's, Bath, and to the church of Lincoln, both 
preserved among the public records. Robert's charter 
was again connrmed by Henry I, Robert and his 
brother Hamon being witnesses; and the same king 
granted a second charter after Robertfs death, in which 
he inserted a donation for the weal of his fiiend's soid. 
This is the charter in which is mentioned the parish 
church of St. Mary at Cardiff, and the chapel of the 
castle there. Sybd occurs in the foundation charter of 
Neath Abbey,on the Calends of October 1159, and, with 
her husbana, in his charter to Abingdon. In 1101 
Fitz-Hamon witnessed the charter known as the " In- 
stitutiones Henrici regis" ; at least his name occurs in 
the Worcestershire version. In what is supposed to 
be the only extant charter by Fitz-Hamon relating to 



THE CHIEF LORDS. 43 

Cardiff, he gives to the monks of Tewkesbury an arm of 
the Taff at Cardiff for a ;fishery , and the donation is wit- 
nessed by his wife. As early as 1 064 his name appears in 
Normandy, in the Bayeux Charters, and again in 1074. 

Robert built the tower and much of the existing 
church of Tewkesbury, dedicating it to St. Mary, by 
the hands of the Bishop of Worcester, 23 October 
1123. Gerald d'Avranches was the first abbot. Among 
the endowments were St. MarVs church, the castle 
chapel, and lands and tithes m Caxdiff; a fishery, 
meadow, and village on the Taff; and the tithes held 
by Fitz-Hamon's barons in Wales. To St. Peter's at 
Gloucester he gave the church of St. Cadoc in Llan- 
carvan, with Treyguff ; gifts confirmed by Stephen in 
1158. He gave also fifteen hides of land in Penhon 
or Penon. Among Fitz-Hamon's wide possessions 
occurs the manor of Kyme, near Boston, now con- 
spicuous for its ancient brick tower, which manor 
was held by Balph de Kyme, and afterwards under the 
Earls of Gloucester by Philip, and, llth of John, by 
Simon de Kyme. — (-466. Plac., 65.) 

Fitz-Hamon was faithful to Henry as he had been to 
Rufiis. His last public appearance was at the battle 
of Tinchbrai, 28 September 1106, where a spear wound 
in his temple reduced him to imbecility, in which con- 
dition he aied in the following year, March 1 107. Mal- 
mesbury says, " Hebetatusque ingenio non pauco tem- 
pore quasi captus mente supervixit." He had been 
taken prisoner in 1105, and Henry, to release him, had 
burned the town of Bayeux and its principal church. 
Heavy offences, " Sed utrique, ut speramus, purgabile 
firit." His body was laid in the chapter house at 
Tewkesbury, whence it was translated to the presby- 
tery of the church by Abbot Robert in 1240-1, and 
over it, in 1397, a chapel or oratory was constructed 
by Parker, the eighteenth abbot. His descendants, 
Lords of Glamorgan, were always recognised as patrons 
of the abbey, and exercised the usual rights on the 
election of each new abbot. It was also the buiial 
place of the de Clares and le Despensers. 



44 THE LAND OF MORGAN : 

The inheritance was not at that time thought to be 
so large as to be dangerous to the peace of the kingdom, 
and to require to be divided. Henry, moreover, had his 
own views concerning it. Of the daughters, Cicely and 
Hawise became Abbesses of Shaftesbury and Wilton. 
Amice is said to have married the Earl of Bretagne, 
but seems to have died early and childless. Mabel, 
called Sybil by William of Jumieges, was regarded as 
the sole heiress and treated accordingly. She was the 
great match of her day, inheriting the Honour of Glou- 
cester and the Lordship of Glamorgan, her fathers 
other lands, and those of her uncle, Hamo Dapifer, 1 in 
England and Normandy. The latter possessions in- 
cluded Thorigny, on the borders of Bayeux and Cout- 
ances, two miles from the boundary stream of La Vire. 
Here, at a later period, her husband built a large and 
strong castle. 

It nas been stated that Henry revived his mother's 
claim to Brichtrics ancient Honour, and it has been 
supposed, but on weak authority, that most of the 
lands were male fiefs, and as such would revert to the 
Crown. Probably, however, Henry was content with 
the wardship of tne lands and the "maritagium" of the 
heiress, and allowed them to vest in her. Certain it is 
that Mabel exercised rights of ownership, both during 
her married life and her widowhood. 

The husband selected for Mabel was the eldest of 
Henry^s natural sons, by name Bobert, and distin- 
guished, probably from his birth-place, as Bobert of 
Caen. The general belief has long been that his 
mother was Nest, a daughter of Bhys of Twdwr, who 
certainly lived with the king for some time, and who 
had from her father the Lordship of Caerau or Carew 

1 This stateraent, which there seems no reason to doubt, assumes 
that Hamo died, at the latest, soon after his niece's marriage, but a 
" Hamo dapifer " witnessed a precept by Henry I concerning Savigny 
Abbey in 11 12, and a charter by Hugh Wade in 1168, and other 
documents in Normandy. He is called " Dapifer " or " Pincerna", 
indifferently. Who was he ? 



THE CHIEF LORDS. 45 

in Pembrokeshire, and by her husband, Gerald de 
Windsor, was ancestress of that family, who derived 
their surname from their office of Castetlan of Windsor 
Castle. Lappenberg, who accepts Nest as Robert/s 
mother, thus accounts for the number of Welsh who 
followed him to the battle of Lincoln, and Palgrave 
rests upon it a circumstantial narrative, but there is no 
evidence for the fact, which moreover was not accepted 
by Dugdale. 

The dates of Roberfs birth and marriage are unre- 
corded, and can only be inferred. He was certainly 
born before his fathers accession in 1100, and he seems 
to have been the eldest of Henry'8 many natural chil- 
dren. Henry himself was born in 1068. Robert's 
daughter was married to the Earl of Chester shortly 
before the battle of Lincoln in 1141, but as women 
were then married early, this proves little. In 1140, 
according to the Gesta Stephani, after the capture of 
the Devizes, Robertfs son was sent to share the custody 
of the castle. About 1 142, Philip, another son, is spoken 
of as taking an active part on his father's side, and he 
was married to a niece or gnmddaughter of Roger de 
Berkeley. Supposing Philip born about 1120, and not 
the eldest son, it seems possible that Robert may have 
married as early as 1116-17, or even a few years earlier. 1 
Such is the conclusion of Mr. Floyd, who has worked 
out the point with his usual sagacity. This would give 
the admmistration of the estates to the Crown for about 
ten years. If the marriage took place in 1117, the lady, 
Fitz-Hamon'8 eldest daughter, could not have been less 
than fourteen, and was probably nearer twenty. Henry 
was no doubt well aware of the great abilities of his son, 
and thought him a safe man to wield so great and 
peculiar a power. 

The wooing was conducted by the King in person, 
and, if faithfully related by Robert of Gloucester, gives 
a high notion of the lady's good sense : — 

1 In 1148 he witnessed a Charter by Henry I to Savigny, as 
" Robertus filius regis." — GalL Christ., xi, 112. 



46 THE LAND OF MORGAN*. 

" The kynge of soghte hyre sayth ynon, so that atten end 
Mabyle hym answerde . . ." 

She told him his wooing was more for what she had 
than for herself, and that with such an heritage she 
ought not to marry a lover unless he had two names, 
that is, a Christian name and a surname, and that as 
Fitz-Hamon's daughter she could ask no less. 

" So vayr erytage, as ych abbe, yt were me gret ssame, 
Yor to abbe an loverd, bote he adde au tuo name." 

Henry admits this, and says his son shall be called 
" Robert le Fitz le Roy," a surname which, however, 
he does not seem ever to have borne. Then, with an 
eye to the fiiture, Mabel asks what their son is to be 
called. 

" Robert Erle of Glouceetre hys name ssal be, and ys, 
Vor he ssal be Erle of Gloucestre, and hys eyrs ywys." 

She answers — 

" well lyketh me thys 
In this forme ycholle, that all my thyng be hys. 

..... 
ThU was erlene hondred yer, and in the yer eyght. 

..... 
And of the kynges crounement in the (ninthe) yere 
That the vorst Erle of Gloucestre thus was ymad there 
Robert, that spoused the ryght eyr, King Heury's sone, 
Tbat vor hys gode dede worth, ych wene evere in mone." 

Malmesbury says of the Countess — " She was a noble 
and excellent woman, a lady devoted to her husband, 
and blest with a numerous and beautiftil progeny." 

The actual conferring of the title seems to have 
followed the marriage, and Eobert certainly bore it 
1119, 20th Henry I. In the chronicles of that period 
the northern title of Earl is often rendered by the 
Latin " Consul", and Earl Robert is often called Uonsul 
of Gloucester, or " Eobert Consul". 

During the sixteen or more years that passed between 
this creation and Henry's death, Robertfs chief attention 
seems to have been given to his Welsh lordship, and 
whatever Fitz-Hamon may have achieved in subduing 



THE CHIEF LORDS. 47 

the natives, the real work of organizing and administer- 
ing the conquest, and providing defences for the con- 
quered territory, seems to have been in a great measure 
tne work of Earl Robert. Fitz-Hamon must necessarily 
have provoked much personal enmity, and his close at- 
tendance upon Rufus, and his large estates in Normandy, 
probably occupied most of his time during the seven- 
teen years in which he survived his conquest ; nor is 
there any tradition or material trace of any, even mili- 
tary, work m Glamorgan which can be ascribed to him. 
Earl Robert, on the other hand, was not associated 
with any of the acts of violence connected with the 
conquest, and his royal connection, vast power, and 
the great moderation of his character, were all calcu- 
lated to lead the Welsh to submit to his rule. He 
allowed the men in the hills to retain unmolested their 
" Moes-y-Devod", or local customs, to which they were 
attached. The sons of Jestyn were confirmed in their 
possessions, a* was Cynfrig, whose two descendants, 
levan David ap Llewelyn Vachan, and Morgan 
Llewelyn ap Ievan Mady, were the patriarchs of 
the numerous families who dwelt in fiiscin. The 
Welsh Lord of Senghenydd was allowed to retain his 
patrimony, and with it a power, which in the next 
generation became troublesome. On the whole, the 
Welsh of Morganwg seem to have accepted the inevit- 
able, and to have respected the lord's demesne lands 
and those of his dependents ; and that they were, on 
the whole, peaceable subjects, and that there was a 
disposition to give them fair play, may be perhaps 
inferred from the constitution of the local inquests m 
the succeeding century, when, even in the districts 
bordering on the hills, the jurors were almost all 
Welshmen. The conquest was, however, far too re- 
cent, and the Welsh spirit far too jealous of control, to 
allow the lord^s authority to rest alone upon an equit- 
able system of government. Earl Robert, who is known 
to have built Bristol Castle, is reported also to have 
built that of Cardiff, and the material evidence of the 



48 THE LAND OF MORGAN I 

polygonal keep and of the outer wall is in hannony 
with this tradition. The castle was certainly a place 
of great strength, when, in 1126, Duke Robert was 
removed from the Devizes and placed in charge of the 
Earl, who lodged him first at IJristol, and very soon 
afterwards at Cardiff, where he died in 1134, having, 
it is said, lost his eyesight, — 

" In Cardiff he a captive lay, 
Whose windows were but niggard of their light." 

That he was imprisoned in the castle may be assumed, 
but the keep is the only extant partof itwhich could then 
have been standing. The tower which goes by his name, 
and in which he is said to have died, is certainly later. 
Earl Robert seems also to have built a castle at Llan- 
trissant, and the accouhts of the Lordship in 1184 
show that the castles of Newport, Kenfig, and Neath 
were at that time .regularly established fortresses. 
Penllyne keep, with its herriig-bone maaomy, is pro- 
bably a work of Earl Robertfs time, although the 
Norrise8 do not appear to have held the fief until 
Robert Norris received it from William, the EaiTs 
succe8Sor, whose vicecomes he was. The older remains 
of the castles of Sully, Fonmon, Castleton, Dunraven, 
and Ogmore, the seats of the families of Sully, St. 
John, Nerberd, Butler, and De Londres, point to the 
same period, as do the walls and gate of the castle 
of Newcastle, and the oldest part of the Turberville 
castle of Coyty. 

Earl Robert's rule also produced works of a more 

Sacific character. In 1147 he founded the Abbey of 
[argam and endowed it with lands between Kenfig 
and the Avan. To de Granville'8 foundation of Neath 
Abbey, to which he succeeded as patron, he gave 
Ponte and Blackscarr. These two foundations, though 
occasionally attacked by the Welsh, were, on tne 
whole, popular with them, and received from the 
native lords very large additions to their possessions. 
Also, in 1126, he healed a long open sore between 



THE CHIEF L0RD8. 49 

the lords of Glamorgan and their bishops. Besides 
other concessions, the Earl gave a fishery on the Ely, 
one hundred acres of cultivable land m the marsh 
between Taff and Ely, the right to take timber from 
certain forests for the repairs of the church, and the 
chapel of Stuntaff or WHtchurch, the parishioners of 
which he allowed to attend Llandaff at Christmas, 
Easter, and Pentecost, and to be buried in Llandaff, 
with other concessions. The Bishop, on his part, 
agreed to set aside divers complaints he had to make, 
and so to adjust his sluice tnat the passage of the 
river should not be impeded, save in times of flood, 
from above or below. The jurisdiction of the Bishop's 
manor court was settled, and it was agreed that 
ordeals by fire, judicia ferri, should be tried at Llan- 
daff, and by water, fossa judieialis aqua, on the 
Bishop's land near Cardiff Castle. Judicial duels be- 
tween mixed parties were to be fought out in the 
castle, but those between the Bishop^s people only 
were to be fought at Llandaff. The concord was 
drawn up before the King with great formaJity, and 
among the witnesses are found, besides many Bishops 
and great nobles, Archdeacon Uchtred, Isaac the 
Bishop's chaplain, Bichard Vicecomes de Kardi, Pagan 
de Turberville, Rodbert Fitz-Roger, Bichard de St. 
Quintin, Maurice de Londres, Odo Sor, and Gauff : de 
Maisi. 

Earl Robert's attention to his Welsh lordship did 
not lead him to neglect the interests of his father. 
He served with Henry at the battle of Brennevile 
in 1119, and was at the taking of Byton Castle 
in 1122, and in 1127 was among those who swore 
in Henry'8 presence an oath of aUegiance to his 
daughter, a pledge which he amply redeemed, though 
supposed by some writers to have had an eye himself 
to the succession. 

Neath Abbey was founded about 1129 by Bichard 
de Granville, Fitz-Hamon^s chief baron, and probably 
his near relative. The foundation charter is not datea, 

E 



50 THE LAND OF MORGAN: 

but it runs in the names of Richard de Granville and 
Constantia his wife, and provides for the weal of Robert, 
Earl of Gloucester, Mabel his wife, and William their 
son. Amongst the witnesses were Richard de St. 
Quintin, Robert de Umfraville, Pagan de Turberville, 
William Pincerna, and Robert de Granville, all Gla- 
morgan Barons ; and the Earl undertook to guard and 
defend the ^ifts. 

Henry died Dec. lst, 1135, and, it is stated by 
Orderic, placed, on his death bed, in the hands of 
Robert £60,000 for the payment of his household and 
immediate followers. His death was followed, April 15, 
1136, by a rising in South Wales, in which Richard 
Fitz-Gilbert, son of the conqueror of Cardigan, was 
slain. The Welsh inburst was severe. Whether they 
actually recovered Gower from Henry de Bellomont is 
uncertain, but they destroyed many castles, churches, 
and houses, and slaughtered both rich and poor. This 
is the rising that seems to have caused de Granville to 
retire froin Neath to his Devon lordship, leaving his 
fief in the hands of his chief lord. Giraldus says, 
after crossing the Nedd " we proceeded towards the 
River Lochor, through the plain in which Howel ap 
Meredith of Brecknock, after the death of Henry I, 
gained a signal victory over the English," and Florence 
of Worcester mentions a severe battle fought in Gower 
Jan. 1, 1136, between the Normans and the Welsh, 
after which the main inroad occurred and Richard 
Fitz-Gilbert fell. The Welsh occupation of Gower 
must have rendered De Granville^s position on the 
Nedd one of great danger, and it was probably under 
this pressure that he retired. 

Earl Robert returned to England with Henry's 
corpse, and probably at that time regarded Matildas 
cause as hopeless, for he made terms with Stephen, 
and gave in his allegiance, though upon conditions 
whicn gave to his adhesion a great air of equality. 
In 1136 his name, as Robert, Earl of Gloucester, 
appears as a witness to Stephen's Charter de liberta- 



THE CHIEF LORDS. 51 

• 

tibus, etc. In 1138 he received from Stephen a confir- 
mation of Fitz-Hamon's gitts to St. Peter's, Gloucester, 
and those of St. Michael's, Ogmore, and St. Bride's, 
which a letter of Henry, Bishop of Winchester, Papal 
Legate in 1139-1148, mentions as proceeding from 
Maurice de Londres. The Legate's letter relates to 
a chapel built in Llancarvan parish contrary to the 
wish of the Abbot of St. Peter's, and in which the 
Bishop is directed not to allow service to be performed. 
This letter is enforced by one of a similar character 
from Archbishop Theobald. According to the Glou- 
cester cartulary, the donations of Maurice, son of 
William de Londres, were made in 1141, but if the 
date of Stephen's charter be correct, this must have 
been a connrmation only. The donations were St. 
Michael of Ewenny, St. Bride's with the chapel of 
Ogmore of Lanfey, and the churches of St. MichaeFs 
of Colveston (Colwinston), of Oystermouth in Gower, 
and of Penbrae. 

In 1138 Earl Robert built Bristol Castle, a very 
strong fortress, at the junction of the Frome with the 
Avon, in a very low marshy district. This castle has 
long been destroyed, save a crypt. It is said to have 
had a rectangular keep, which, in such a position, is 
probable, and of which the well has been recently dis- 
covered. The keep was faced with Caen stone. In 
the following year, late in the summer, the Earl 
brought over his sister to England, landing at Ports- 
mouth, whence he lodged her at Arundel, the polygonal 
keep and gatehouse of which had recently been con- 
structed by William d'Albini, who had married Adeliza, 
the second wife and widow of Heniy I. On hearing of 
the Empres8's arrival, Stephen at once broke up the 
siege of Marlborough ana appeared before Arundel. 
By some accounts, his courtesy was such that he 
allowed her to retire with her brother to Walling- 
ford, to Brian Fitz-Count, whence she went to Milo, 
the Constable of England, at Gloucester, and thence, 
as a very strong retreat, to Bristol. Early in October 
Earl Robeitfs preparations were completed, and in 

e 2 



52 THE LAND OF MORGAN: 

December, while Stephen was attacking Wallingford 
by means of a great wooden tower or malvoisin, 1 he 
took Worcester, and, in the following April, Notting- 
ham. Stephen in the meantime had attacked and 
failed before Bristol, and had ravaged a part of the 
Honour of Gloucester, in Somerset. In 1141 Bobert 
lodged some of his English hostages with the Count of 
Anjou, Matildas husband; and in the same year he 
fought the battle of Lincoln, having led into the field 
a large body of Welshmen, this being probably the 
first time that the Norman Lord of Glamorgan had 
been so supported. Stephen, there taken captive, was 
sent to Bristol Castle, and soon afterwards, at Oxford, 
Matilda created Milo of Gloucester Earl of Hereford, 
Earl Bobert attesting the creation. In this year 
Maurice de Londres granted St. Michael's Church at 
Ewenny to Gloucester, with St. Bride's Lanfey, Oyster- 
mouth, and the chapels of Ogmore and St. Michael of 
Colveston. 

These successes led to conduct injurious to the 
character and cause of the Empress, who disgusted 
her supporters, and in consequence had to nee to 
Winchester, where she held the royal castle at one 
end of the city, and laid siege to the bishop in his 
castle of Wolvesey at the otner. Here, before long, 
she was blockaded by Stephen's friends, and between 
them and the bishop was so pressed, that she escaped, 
it is said, in a coffin, and reached Gloucester, while 
Earl Bobert, covering her flight, was taken and com- 
mitted to the castle at Bochester, whence he was 
speedily exchanged for Stephen. The war was eon- 
tinued; the Earl frustrated Stephen's attempts upon 
Wallingford, then one of the strongest places in the 
south of England, as indeed its extant earthworks 
still testify, and he also hovered over Stephen's march 
to Winchester, and much impeded his movements. 

The Earl next revisited the continent and brought 

1 Sometimes, however, as at the Biege of Bamborough, the malvoi- 
rin seems to have been an earthwork. 



THE CHIEF LORDS. 53 

over Geoflrey Plantagenet, landing at Wareham, where 
with some difficulty and delay he took the castle. In 
1143, July 1, he attacked Stephen at Wilton and 
drove him out, and Count Geoffrey returned to Anjou, 
taking with him Heniy, the future king. 

In 1145, died Richard the first Abbot of Neath. In 
1146, Bishop Uchtred of Llandaff relates in a charter 
how in this year, by the mediation and concession of 
Earl Robert, peace was established between the Bishop 
and the Abbot and Monks of Tewkesbury, the Bishop 
giving consent to their holding all the tithes and 
benefices given, or to be given, lawfully to them in 
his diocese, and they yielding to the Bishop their tithe 
of the cultivated demesne in the moor between Taff 
and Ely, and two parts of the tithe of Merthyr-Mawr 
and that attached to St. John's Chapel. Further, 
saving to Llandaff its own claim, they consent to allow 
to the Bishops of Llandaff a right of burial at Tewkes- 
bury, of which privilege however they did not avail 
themselves. Twenty years before this the Earl had 
settled his own differences with Urban, the Bishop's 
predecessor, in an amicable manner, and some time 
afterwards Bishop Uchtred's concord was in like 
manner confirmed by Bishop Nicholas, who succeeded 
him. 

Al80 in 1146 the Abbot and Convent of Gloucester 
farmed out for five vears, for a fine of £80 in silver, 
Penon, with the Church of Llancarvan, to Robert 
Harding, with power to determine the agreement on 
a rateable repayment. This agreement was witnessed 
by the Earl with the whole comitatus of Cardiff. 
Afterwards, during the episcopate of Bishop Nicholas, 
1153-1183, the Abbot let Treygoff and the Church 
of Llancarvan, saving the tithe, to Archdeacon Urban, 
at 605. per annum. Soon afterwards, however, the 
archdeacon, probably feeling a scruple of conscience 
about the matter, with the Bishop'8 consent renounced 
his lease. 

Earl Robert, after having borne the brunt of the 



54 THE LAND OF MORGAN! 

civil war, was denied the satisfaction of witnessing the 
close of it, and his nephew'8 accession. He died at 
Bristol in October 1147, seven years before the pacifi- 
cation of Wallingford and the death of Stephen, and 
was buried in the Priory of St. James, his own founda- 
tion. Earl Robert also founded Margam in 1147, the 
last year of his life. In 1148 Bishop Uchtred died, 
and was succeeded at Llandaff by Nicholas, son of 
Bishop Gwrgan. Uchtred seems to have been married ; 
at least his daughter Angharad was the wife of Jor- 
worth ap Owain of Ca*rleon. 

Earl Bobert was one of the greatest soldiers and 
most prudent, or perhaps astute, statesmen of his day. 
Whatever, under other circumstances, he may possibly 
have intended, he was a loyal promoter of his sisters 
interests, and did much to correct or rather to check 
her weak but imperious character. Like his father 
Beauclerc, he was a great patron of literature and 
himself a man of letters. He was the friend of Caradoc 
of Llancarvan, and probably the cause of the Norman 
bias of that historian. To him Geoflrey of Monmouth 
dedicated his version of the Brut, and William of 
Malmesbury his history, attributing to him the mag- 
nanimity of his grandsire the Conqueror, the munin- 
cence of his uncle William Rufus, and the circumspec- 
tion of his father. It was unfortunate for the good 
government of Glamorgan that English affairs occupied 
so much of the latter part of his life. 

Besides his Welsh endowments, Earl Robert was 
a liberal benefactor to the church upon his English 
estates. He founded the Priory of St. James at 
Bristol, in the choir of which he was buried, and 
where his effigy carved in wood, though probably not 
quite of contemporary date, is still preserved. To 
St. Peter's at Gloucester he gave, 1130-39, Treygoff, 
and in a later charter, 1139-47, he confirmed Treygoff 
with Penon and the church of Llancarvan, and to 
Ewenny the gifts of Maurice de Londres, all for the 
weal of his soul and that of Mabel his countess, who 



THE CHIEF LORDS. 55 

witnessed the charter. In it Robert styles himself 
" Robertus regis filius Gloucestrise Consul". In another 
longer charter, probably of the same date, he confirms 
the gifts of Maurice de Londres and Gilbert de Turber- 
ville to Ewenny, and adds twenty-one acres of arable 
land outside tne gates of Kenfig. He also confirms 
his quittance of toll to Ewenny. All this he does 
"amore beati Michaelis archiangeli". Earl Robert 
is said to have built a caatle at Faringdon m Berk- 
shire, but this was probably a slight and temporary 
work, it may be of timber. 

Countess Mabel survived her husband ten years, 
during which time she seems to have acted with 
authority in Glamor ? an. Her earliest charter a* a 
widow, given probably in 1147, is a confirmation to 
St. Peters of Gloucester, and commences " M : Comi- 
tissa Gloucestriae, et Willelmus comes, filius ejus, 
Willelmo filio Stephani constabulario suo, etc." Fitz- 
Stephen was constable of Cardiff Castle. The lands 
confirmed are Treygoff, Llancarvan, and Penon. Mabel 
also gave to St. Augustin's, Bristol, sixty acres of land 
in the marsh of Rhymny ; and in Earl William^s charter 
to Neath, he adds the assent and consent of Mabel his 
mother. She died in 1157. 

Her children were : — 1, William; 2, Roger, Bishop 
of Worcester in 1164; he was Henry's messenger to 
Bome after Becketfs murder in 1167, and died at Tours 
Aug. 9, 1179; 3, Hamo, who witnessed his brothers 
foundation of Ardennes in 1139 as "Hamofilius comitis 
Gloucestrias", and who died at the siege of Thoulouse 
in 1159 ; 4, Philip, who married a daughter of Roger 
Lord Berkeley, and latterly took part with Stephen ; 
5, A son mentioned by William of Jumieges, and who 
probably was the "Bichard, son of Robert, Earl of 
Gloucester", who, says Orderic, received in 1135 the 
Bishopric of Bayeux. As bishop, in 1 1 38, he witnessed 
a deed of commutation, between Roger, Abbot of 
Fecamp, and Earl Robert, concerning the priory of 
Gilves (?), and in the same year founded Ardennes, an 



56 THE LAND OF MOBOAN: 

abbey near Caen, in the charter for which he is styled 
"Richard, Bishop of Bayeux, son of Robert, Earl of 
Gloucester, son of the Eing of England". Of an 
additional donation it is stated, "Dedit autem et 
Robertus regis filius Gloucestrise consuT. Bishop 
Richard died April 3, 1142.— (G<dl. Ch., xi, 78, Inst.) 
6, Maud, who married Ralph Gernons, Earl of Chester. 

William, the second Earl of Gloucester, succeeded 
his father in 1147, and his mother in 1157, and held 
the lordship from the former period thirty-si± years. 
He is first mentioned in the foundation charter of 
Neath in 1129, and next as governor of Wareham 
Castle, during his father's absence in Normandy, in 
1142, where ne was attacked by Stephen and the 
castle taken. He commenced his rule, probably with 
an understanding with his mother, by a charter dated 
January 1148, addressed in regal style to his dapifer, 
barons, vicecomes, and to his ueges generally, French, 
English, or Welsh. It is specially addressed to Hamo 
de Valoygnes, one of a family then considerable in the 
county, and it alludes to the foundation of the churches 
of St. Mary and St. Thomas at Cardiff. By another 
charter he confirmed certain gifts to Tewkesbury. 

In 1153 his name, as "Wilham Earl of Gloucester", is 
attached to the convention between Stephen and Maud. 
Also in 1153 died William, the first Abbot of Margam, 
who was succeeded by Abbot Andrew, who died De- 
cember 31, 1155. In 1154, October 25, Stephen died, 
and Henry II succeeded to the throne. In 1156, 
Geoffrey, Bishop of Llandaff, died whilst engaged at 
mass. 

A great event in Earl William^s reign, according to 
the Welsh Chronicles, was his war with Ivor ap Meyric 
or Ivor bach, Lord of Senghenydd, of which the Earl 
threatened to deprive him, and whose stronghold seems 
to have been on the high ground above the later fort- 
ress of Castell coch, overlooking the plain of Cardiff, 
and placed most conveniently for a dash at that castle. 
No doubt the hopes of the Welsh were at that time 



THE CHIKF L0BD8. 57 

much excited by the ill success of Henry'8 expedition 
in North Wales in 1157, but Ivor's enterprise, as 
recorded by Giraldus, who however places it m 1153, 
was not the less a marvel of audacity. Cardiff Ca&tle, 
as may yet in part be seen, was defended by a waJl 
40 feet high and 1 1 feet thick, and was at tnat time 
garrisoned by 120 men at arms and a large body of 
archers and a strong watch. In the contiguous town 
was also a stipendiary force. Ivor, however, with his 
Welshmen scaled the wall at night, surprised the 
garrison, carried off the Earl, his countess, and their 
son to the hills, and dictated his own terms. The 
Welsh pedigrees, by way of rounding off the story, 
make hmi marry the Earl's daughter, but the more 
reliable English records give no support to this part 
of it. Ivor's descendants long continued to be the 
mesne Lords of Senghenydd, and still, both in the 
male and female fcS, retain considerable property 
within that lordship, both above the Caiach about 
Merthyr and Morlais, and below the Caiach about 
Van, Eglwysilan and Llanishen; but this raid pro- 
bably gave occasion, a century later, to the construc- 
tion of the tower of Whitchurch and the castellets of 
Castell coch and Morlais. The grand border fortress 
of Caerphilly was due to a more national attack, but 
all were built by the de Clare's upon the private 
domain of Ivor's descendants. 

5th Henry II, 1158-9, Thomas, nephew to the Earl 
of Gloucester, owed fifty marcs to tbe Exchequer for 
his land at Chichester, Devon ; and in the sixth year 
this is entered de pladtis of William Fitz John, who is 
remitted the fifty marcs by the King. Who Thomas 
wa& is not known ; probably the same who in 1176, as 
the nephew to the Earl of Gloucester, with Richard 
his son, owed forty marcs to the Exchequer. In 1 1 60, 
during the King^s prolonged stay in Normandy, Earl 
William took part in an expedition against Rhys ap 
Griffith, who retaliated in the year following by burn- 
ing the grange of Margam. In 1165-6, upon the aid 



58 THE LAND OF MORGAN: 

for majTTing the King's daughter to Henry the Lion, 
Duke of Saxony, the Earl was rated upon 36| fees in 
Kent, and elsewhere on 274 fees, in all 309^ fees, 
of which 26 1£ were in the Honour of Gloucester. This 
was exclusive of his Welsh lordship, which seems re- 
cently to have been augmented by the acquisition of 
Caerleon from Meredyth ap Howel. In 1 1 66 Robert (?), 
Earl William'8 brother, died. In 1 169 the Earl founded 
Keynsham Abbey. The invasion of Ireland by Earl 
Richard of Striguil, in 1169, was strongly supported in 
Glamorgan ; and among the knights who won and settled 
upon estates in that country are very many whose 
names show them to have emigrated from the lord- 
ship, such are Barry, Cogan, Kenefek, Penrice, Scur- 
lock, and about a hundred others. 

In the autumn of 1171, and in March 1172, Henry 
passed through Cardiff on his way to and from Ireland. 
On the latter occasion occurred the incident related by 
Giraldus, and which is thought to mark the commence- 
ment of the movement for keeping holy the Lord's 
day, which became popular in therelgn i King John. 
Henry being at Caraiff on Low Sunday (April 23) 
heard mass in St. Perian's Chapel, in Shoemaker 
Street, and as he came forth and was about to mount 
his horse, a man addressed him in English, saying- 
" God keep thee, O kihg ; Christ and his Holy Mother, 
John the Baptist, and Peter the Apostle greet thee, 
and by me order thee to forbid all fairs and markets on 
the Lord J s day, and all not necessary labours, and take 
thou heed that the sacred offices be devoutly adminis- 
tered ; so shalt thou prosper." " Ask the master", said 
the King in Norman French, turning to Sir Philip 
Marcross, "whether he directed this"; on which the 
man repeated his admonition, saying, " Unless thou 
dost obey me, and at once amend thy life, before a 
year shaU pass away, harder things will happen to thee, 
which, so long as thou livest, thou shall not shake off" ; 
and having so spoken he disappeared, while the King, 
having mounted, rode away over Bhymny bridge into 



THE CHIEF LORDS. 59 

England. It was during this Irish journey that Henry 
summoned Yorworth of Caerleon and his sons to meet 
him at Newport on Usk, addressing to them a safe 
conduct. While on the road, one of the Earl of Glou- 
cester's men met them, and killed Owen the son of 
Yorworth, on which Yorworth, distrustful, returned, 
and laid waste the country towards Gloucester. Henry 
finally took possession of Caerleon; in revenge for 
which, in July 1174, when Henry was beyond the sea, 
Yorworth and Morgan ap Sissylt ap Dynval destroyed 
Caerleon town and castle, and wasted the neighbour- 
hood, then in English occupation. In 1171-2 the 
Bishop of Uandaff, the see being much impoverished 
by these repeated harryings, received 665. Sd., the 
King's gift, and a corrody ofl 35. from Hyde Abbey. 

In 1173 the Pipe Roll enters from Gilbert de Um- 
fraville, £44 105. 2d., pro rehabenda terra sua, of 
which the Earl of Gloucester had deforced him. There 
was in the treasury £9 65. Sd., and he owed £35 35. 6d., 
and in the next year's account he had paid 1015. 8d. 
This looks as though the EarFs lands were in the King's 
hands; which is strange, unless indeed the King had 
taken them in hand on account of the Earl's adherence 
to the party of the young Henry, to which for a time 
he either gave his aid, or at least did not support the 
King, affecting neutrality. That the King was dis- 
satisfied withlim is also shown by his having actuaUy 
imprisoned him with the Earl of Lincoln, and by his 
including him among those whom he dispossessed of 
their castles, when he attached that of Bristol to 
the Crown. This was in 1175-6, in which year Henry 
received at Gloucester the Welsh magnate Rhys ap 
Griffith, and with him Morgan ap Caradoc ap Jestyn 
of Avan, whose mother Gwladys was Prince Rhys's 
sister, and Griffith ap Ivor bach ap Meyric of Senghe- 
nydd, together with another nephew of Rhys, also 
a son of his sister; with them came Yorworth ap 
Owen of Caerleon. It should be observed that botn 
Morgan and Griffith were vassal barons of the Earl 



60 THE LAND OF MOBOAN: 

of Gloucester, and had he been in a position to enforoe 
his rights they would not have been admitted to the 
sovereign. In Lent 1177, at the assembly in London 
in whicn Henry arbitrated between the Kings of Cas- 
tile and Navarre, Earl William appears as one of the 
witnesses of the confirming document. 

In 1181 Henry proclaiined an assize of arms, cer- 
tainly much needed, on the Welsh borders, but which 
was an assumption by the Crown of the right to tax 
rents and, in some degree, personal chattels. Every 
holder of a knight's fee was to be provided with a 
cuirass, a helmet, a shield, and a lance ; and so many 
fees as he may hold, so many of each was he to provide. 
Every free layman, having chattels or a rental equal to 
sixteen marcs, was to provide a hauberk, an iron head- 

I)iece, and a lance. No man is to sell, to pledge, or to 
end these arms ; no lord is to seize them. They are 
to descend to the heir, and if he be an infant the 
guardian is to use them until the owner be able to bear 
arms. No man is to possess more arms than the above. 
In 1182 the Welsh slew Ranulph Poer, the King's 
sheriff for Gloucestershire. Nicholas, Bishop of Uan- 
daff, died 6 Sep. 1183. 

Earl William died on the night of St. Clement's, 
23 Nov. 1183, the anniversary of his birth, and probably 
about the sixtieth of his age. Among his works was 
the building of the town of Kenfig, andthe foundation 
of Keynsham Abbey at the request of his dying son. 
To the monks of Neath he confirmed his fathers gift 
of Blackscarr, to which he added the right of wreck 
upon their sea shore. To Margam he gave by charter, 
before 1166, tested by his countess and addressed to 
his sheriff and barons, " Siwardum palmiferum," with 
his house and curtilage, by the hand of Robert his son. 
By another charter he gave to the monks of St. Peter^s, 
Gloucester, freedom from toll in Bristol, Cardiff, and 
Newport, for the souTs weal of himself, his countess, 
and their son. To St. Augustine^s, Bristol, he gave 
the tithes of his mills at Newport, and a tenth of his 



THE CHIEF LOBDS. 61 

forest rent for Candelan, with lands on the river 
Bhymny near Cardiff ; and to the church of St. Guth- 
lac, Hereford, freedom from toll throughout his Welsh 
possessions, and the same freedom to the monks of 
Goldcliff, in Bristol, Cardiff, Newport, Caerleon, and 
Chepstow. By another charter, preserved in the 
Bradenstoke Cartulary, he gave to a certain "Stemor" 
his burgage in Cardiff at 12d. per annum rent instead 
of 2s. Another charter, tested by his countess, relates 
to what Mr. Floyd supposes to be the parish church of 
St. Mary at Cardiff, which he seems to have rebuilt and 
dedicated to St. Mary and St. Thomas, then recently 
martyred. There are also other charters by Earl 
William, relating to donations in Gloucester and Dor- 
set. 1 He was buried at Keynsham. 

Earl William married Hawise, daughter of Kobert 
Bossu, Earl of Leicester. She died 24th April 1197, 
having had to stand up for her vidual rights. lst 
Richard I she had £50 ailowed her for her maritagium 
for the half year, in the accounts of the Honour of 
Gloucester ; and 7th Bichard I, just before her death, 
she accounted for 200 marcs, or £66 13$. 4<2., in the 
Pipe Roll of Devon and Somerset, as her payment on 
her dower and maritagium. 

Their children were — 1, Robert, mentioned in the 
Pipe Roll 1155 as "Bobertum filium Comitis Glouces- 
triffi"; he was born and died at Cardiff, and was buried 
at Eeynsham ; 2, Mabel ; 3, Amice ; 4, Isabel. As 
Robert died young and childless, the three sisters be- 
came coheirs. 

It was Earl William who presented King Henry 
with the spotted greyhound so celebrated for his 
fidelity to Owen ap Caradoc ap Jestyn, having received 
seven wounds in defence of his master, who was slain 
by Cadwalader ap Caradoc, his brother, who also came 
to an untimely end. 

Upon the EarFs death the lordship fell into the cus- 

1 He also granted certain lands to the House of Boley, near 
Torigny.— OaU. Chritt., xi, 456. 



62 THE LAND OF MORGAN: 

tody of the crown, and its accounts appear in the Pipe 
Kolls of the 30th Henry II, 1183-4. These accounts 
are very curious, and though too long to be given at 
length, show the value of the Pipe Rolls, and what has 
been lost by the destruction of the records of the local 
Chancery. The several officers who account to the 
King for the receipts and expenditure, half year by half 
year, are Maurice de Berkeley, Hamo de Valoygnes, and 
Hugh Bardolf. Under them are William de Cogan, 
Walter Luvel, Reginald Fitz-Simon, and one or two 
others who were m charge of the castles of Neath, 
Kenfig, Newcastle, Rhymny and Newport. There are 
also cLges for military stoVesand fitfings, warnisture 
for these castles, and for their repairs, especially for 
gates and palisades, probably barriers in advance of the 
gates. There were also horsemen and footmen serving 
for a term at livery at the lord's expense, whose leaders 
were W m le Sor, Waltf de Lageles, Walter Luvel, Payn 
de Turberville, Reginald Fitz Simon and Hoel of Caer- 
leon, and allowances for the hire of shipping for stores 
and provisions, and for the transport of de Valoygnes 
and nis knights. Tithes are paid to Tewkesbury ; com- 
pensation for horses lost or kdled by the Welsh ; Roath 
and Rhymny bridges are repaired ; and two miUstones 
put into Leckwith Mill. Kenfig town had been burned, 
and had to be enclosed, "praBcludenda" and the rents 
remitted for a year. The Dean and the Archdeacon 
came in for compensation for injuries done by the Welsh. 
Philip de Marcross, the Under-Sheriff, has a handsome 
present for the charge of the lordship ; as the Sheriff is 
not mentioned it may be supposed that the two officers 
stood, as to loss and gain, as they do now. There are 
charges for the keeping of Welsh prisoners, and one 
very grim-looking item for " chains for Welsh prispners 
and doing justice on them." The income is derived 
from a variety of sources — rents, or farms of manors 
and mills, pleas of courts and perquisites, wards, fairs, 
and earnest money ; lands seized because their lords 
did not discharge the service due, and chattels forfeited 



THE CHIEF LORDS. 63 

for disobedience of orders. Wardships formed a regular 
portion of the LorcTs revenue. One occurs in the per- 
son of the daughter of Guy de Trotington, whose land 
is in the Lord's hands. A relief also is paid by Bobert 
de Cardiff on obtaining seizin of his land, and a fine 
is levied upon Alan de St. George, probably on a similax 
occasion. 

In 1184 Henry was at Worcester on South Wales' 
affairs. Ehys ap Griffith had a safe conduct and came 
to the King, and promised his sons and nephews as 
hostages. They, however, refused to redeem the pro- 
mise. It is ratner strange, afber what had passed, that 
Howel of Caerleon should be in the King's service 
against his countiymen. 

In 1 1 8 5 the Welsh, unrestrained by any giving of hos- 
tages, took advantage of the interregnum, and invaded 
and laid waste Glamorgan. An eclipse, which presented 
the sun of the colour of blood, no doubt was construed 
in their favour. They burned Kenfig for the second 
time — " it had not been burned a year or more" — and 
the town of Cardiff. Neath was attacked, but relieved 
by the Normans, who beat off the swarm of Welshmen, 
and burned their machines of war. It was then that, at 
Llanridian in Gower, St. Iltyd's spring flowed with 
milk, and that of so excellent a quality that butter rose 
upon its surface. In this year William, Prior of St. 
Augustine's, became Bishop of Llandaff, and in 1187 
consecrated the altar of the Holy Trinity in the Abbey 
of Margam. 

On the 6th July 1189, King Henry died, the lord- 
ship being still in the hands of the Crown. 



THE CO-HEIRS OF THE HONOUR AND 

LORDSHIP, AND THE COMING IN OF 

THE HOUSE OF CLAKE. 



Thb ages of Earl William's daughters at the time of 
his death are not on record, but they certainly were 
very young. Dugdale, following Walsingham, says 
that the Earl, to prevent the drroion of the heritage, 
adopted as his heir, at Windsor in 1176, the King's 
second son, John ; but this must have been with the 
understanding that he was to marry one of the coheirs. 
Madox (Bar. AngL, p. 201) says that on the EaiTs 
deaththeHonour of Gloucester, in which he evidentlyin- 
cludes the Welsh lordship, was escheated to the Crown; 
and Hugh Bardolph, in accounting to Eichard I for the 
issues " de tribus partibus anni", says this was " ante- 
quam rex daret eundem Honorem Johanni fratri suo" 
(JPipe Roll, lst Richard I). Nevertheless, the subse- 
quent descents of both Honour and Lordship show that 
they were not held aa male fiefe ; but, like all other 
property, where the law had its course, descended to 
the heiresses, subject to a purparty or division, and 
subject, of cour», Lrtog » i^ the ueual righta 
of wardship. When, some years later, the male line of 
the de Clares failed, but very few of their manors re- 
verted to the Crown ; the great bulk of the estate was 
held by the King aa in wardship, and so soon as it was 
certain that there was no male heir of the body of the 
la&t Earl, on the petition of the sisters, was divided. 
It is, therefore, probable that the vesting of the estate 
in John was by an arrangement with Earl William ; and 
that this was so, is supported by the fact that after 
John divorced the heiress he gave up the estate, though 



THB C0-HEIRS OF THB LORDSHIP. 65 

with a very bad grace, and after considerable delay. 
The title of Earl of Gloucester was certainly a personal 
grant by Henry I to his son Robert on his marriage. 
It could not have been a part of Mabels heritage, for 
Fitz-Hamon was not an earl. With the title Henry 
evidently made the usual grant of the third penny of 
the county. The learned authors of the Peerage JRe- 
ports deny this, but in the Pipe Roll of lst Richard I, 
after the passage above cited, follows, "et de xxxii 
libris de tercio denario comitatus de dimidio anno ;" 
and in the Roll of 3rd John, Almaric d'Evreux had 
xxli. of the third penny of the same county. The usual 
appanage of an earl in those days was the third penny 
of the pleas of his county. 

The limitation under which the earldom descended 
is obscure. It does not appear why John's marriage 
should have made him Earl of Gloucester, as his wSe 
was not sole heiress of her father, although in Bristol 
Castle she possessed what was probably then regarded 
as the " caput Honoris GloucestrisB \ Gloucester, 
which she did not possess, might probably be the 
"caput Comitatus," but it was never held by the earls. 

On Earl William'8 death Henry stepped in, as 
guardian of the infant co-heiresses and custos of the 
lands. The latter he held about six years, when the 
issues were returned as a branch of the royal revenue. 
Thus, 33rd Henry II, 1186-7, Hugh Bardolph ac- 
counted for the scutages, " quia Honor est in manu 
regis," and in the same year is an account of £43 17 s. 7d. 
for works at Kenefit Castle, probablv Kenfig, in Gla- 
morgan, though possibly a Herefordshire fortress. 

On Henrys death the wardship passed' with the 
crown to Richard, and the accounts, besides the third 
penny mentioned above,show "et comitissse Gloucestrise 
£50 pro dote et maritagio suo de dimidio anno per 
Ran' de GlanvilTprecepto regis." This was the Countess 
Dowager. Other entries show that Bardolf accounted 
for the Castle of Caermarthen and for works at Bristol 
Castle, as well a& for certain issues from the Abbot of 



66 THE LAND OF MORGAN : 

Keynsham. Among the tenants Henry de Umfranvill 
owed £4 for his relief, and Roger de Maisi£45 for. nine 
knight's fees held of the Hononr, butprobably , in strict- 
ness, of the Lordship of Glamorgan. Fitz-Stephen seems 
to have accounted for the issues of the County, Bar- 
dolf for those of the Honour. Richard held the ward- 
ship two-thirds of a year, and then, in 1189, deter- 
mined it in favour of lsabel, the third sister, whom he 
married to his brother John, to whom she had been 
contracted in 1176. The accounts for 1189-90, lst 
Richard I, show for saddles, etc., for the daughter of 
the Earl of Gloucester and her maidens, £17 2s. 7d., 
and for various fiirs for her and the daughter of the 
Earl of Chester, as well as for the Queen and the sister 
of the King of France, 73s. 4d. She had also three 
roserells. John held the Honour by baronial homage 
and service. He lost it for a time when disseized of 
his English lands by the sentence of the royal court, 
but regained it on his reconciliation with his brother. 
It seems to have been in the Crown in the 9th 
Kichard I, 1197-8, when William de Warene was 
custds of the Honour, and was collecting for Richard's 
ransom. The names of some of the knights in his ac- 
counts, as de Cardiff, de Granville, and de Sanford, 
belong both to the Honour and to the Lordship of 
Glamorgan. 

On John s accession he became both chief and mesne 
lord. Madox is careful to point out that while John's 
own services thus became extinguished, the tenants 
continued to pay theirs as holding " in capite ut de 
Honore." Also, as an Honour was a Barony, it did 
not merge in the Crown, as was the case with a 
knight's fee or a demesne manor, but was held in 
abeyance and distinct, and wa& described technically 
as nolden " in dominio". John's marriage was opposed 
by Archbishop Baldwin as within the forbidden de- 
grees, both parties descending from Henry I. While 
Earl of Moretaine it suited John to disregard this 
objection, but when he succeeded as king, and had no 
chddren, he revived it and obtained a divorce. 



THE C0-HEIRS OF THE LORDSHIP. 67 

According to the Annals of Tewkesbury, John's mar- 
riage, though contracted for in 1176, with the proviso 
that the Pope's license was to be obtained, did not 
actually take place until Richard's accession in 1189. 
It must have been just befbre the marriage, during the 
episcopate of William de Saltmarsh, that Archbishop 
Baldwin, accompanied by Giraldus Cambrensis, visited 
Glamorgan, preached the crusade at Llandaff, was the 
guest of Abbot Conan at Ewenny, and was guided 
across the treacherous marshes and sands between the 
Avan and the Nedd by Morgan ap Caradoc, Jestyn's 
eldest grandson, and the Lord of Avan. Eichard's 
letter from Messina, written about the 25th January 
1191, is addressed to John, Earl of Gloucester, and 
John so styles himself in forwarding the letter to the 
Archbishop, although he seldom used the title after- 
wards. In 1199, 30th October, he confirmed to Wil- 
liam de Berkeley a donation made by Robert Earl of 
Gloucester, and soon after his marriage he, as " Comes 
de Moreton", or " Moritonie ,, , granted charters of con- 
firmation to Neath and Margam. The Neath charter 
has been printed ; that to Margam, dated Cardiff on 
the Tuesday before St. Hilary 1193, is in excellent 
preservation, and bears John's seal as Lord of Glamor- 
gan, with two passant lions on his shield. It is one of 
a mass of similar documents in the possession of Mr. 
Talbot of Margam, which, if examined, would no 
doubt throw much light on the early history of that 
abbey, and on the descent of property in the county in 
the twelfth century. There is also another charter by 
John, without date, but granted before his accession, 
preserved in the Cottonian MSS. (Cleopatra, A vii, 
73 b), printed in the New Monasticon (ii, 69). 7 Aug. 
1197, " Elizabetha Comitissa Gloucestriae et Moreton" 
confirmed a charter " a domino meo Johanne Moreton" 
to John, Bishop of Worcester, concerning Malvern 
forest (Nash Worc, ii, 137). It is dated from Bec. 

The divorce seems to have occurred in May 1200, 
and John's marriage to Isabel of Angoulfime followed at 

F 2 



68 THB LAND OF MORUAN : 

once, so that they were crowned at Christmas. That 
John retained the Lordship and Honour in his hands 
is evident from his grants after his accession. 22nd 
October 1199, he confirmed a grant by Eobert, Earl of 
Gloucester, of Eldresfield, to William son of William 
de Berkeley, and 18th April 1200, a grant of Bed- 
minster manor by the same to the same. This indeed 
he might have done as sovereign, but in his first year 
William de Falaise and Master Swern account for the 
issues of the Honour, and probably of the lordship, 
which for this month are £223 12s. 3d. Also, 1201-2, 
Guy de Cancellis accounted to the Crown for the 
scutages of the Honour of Gloucester, levied r Jupon 
327^ fees, and the King retained also the castle and 
barton of Bristol. The Pipe Roll for the following 
year, 3rd John, 1202, has been printed. In it William 
de Falaise accounts for the Honour for the past year. 
Among the tenants who belonged also to Glamorgan 
are Henry de Umfranvill, who paid 12 marks on 5 
fees ; Roger de Meisi, 24 marks on 4 fees ; John le Sor, 
36 marks on 14 fees ; Roger Corbet, 8 marks on 1 fee ; 
Herbert de St. Quintin, 3 marks for 10 fees ; and Milo 
de Sumeri, 5 marks for 3^ fees, William de Montacute 
and Ralph de Cirecest' were allowed £50 for the ex- 
penses of the Countess [of Gloucester] at Bristol, by a 
letter from Geoffiy Fitz-Peter. Keynsham Abbey paid 
40eZ. for scutage. 

In the next roll, 4th John, the fees in the Honour of 
Gloucester are 304^, of which 47£ are in Glamorgan. 
The Earl of Evreux held 20 fees, and the Earl of Clare 
15 fees. Also Heniy de Umphravill accounts for 20 
marks on 5 fees ; John le Sor, 60 marks on 14 fees ; 
and H. de St. Quintin, 50 marks on 10 fees. Also, 
13th April, 1204, John confirmed certain gifts in 
Petersfield, Hants, by William Earl of Gloucester and 
Hawise his wife; and 23rd June 1205, granted a 
" masagium" or habitation, in Lincoln, to be held of 
the Earl of Gloucester and his heirs. As king he also 
confirmed the charters to Margam and Neath. To 



THE C0-HEIBS OF THE LOEDSHIP. 69 

Margam, his confirmations, four in number, are dated 
15th May 1205 ; a second probably in the same year ; 
and the others 22nd July and llth August 1207, 
are printed in the Rotulus Chartarum, as are those to 
Neath, 6th January, 5th August, and llth August 
1207. Also in the New Monasticon (vi, 366), is a 
charter confirming to St. Augustin's, Bristol, the 
grant of Earl William between Cardiff and the 
Khymny, and others by Countess Mabel, William'8 
mother. Certain allowances, apparently not very 
liberal ones, were made to the lawiul heiress, who re- 
tained her titular rank. At Tewkesbury, John built 
the long bridge and granted the town tolls for its 
repair. 

6th November 1201, the justiciary was directed to 
allow the Countess of Gloucester to hold her lands in 
peace, "sicut antecessores" ; and 30th July 1205, 
"Our beloved Countess" is to have "quaiibet septi- 
mana unam damam". 6th February 1206, she has 
£12 for her expenses from the Exchequer; and 26th 
May, the King allows the reasonable expenses of the 
Earl (Countess) of Gloucester at Winchester. 20th 
March 1207, a ton (tonellum) of wine, also charged to 
the Exchequer, is allowed, and certain necessary ex- 
penses for her at Sherborne, to be certified by her ser- 
vant Hamo. The Pipe Roll of 8th John contains an 
entry of 40 marks for disseizin for Amicia, formerly 
Countess of Clare. 

19th September 1207, Falkes, the King's bailiff in 
Glamorgan, has an allowance for the repairs of the 
castles there ; his patent as Custos is dated February 

1207. 3rd December, the Castle of Sherborne in 
Dorset is mentioned as belonging to the Countess, and 
no doubt her residence. 

27th December, Falkes is informed that Gilbert de 
Turberville has appeased the King by the payment of 
a horse for his fine on relief for his land. 23rd March 

1208, Keynsham Abbey is vacant and Gilbert de Aties 
is to provide the canons with food and clothing, and 



70 THE LAXD OF MOBGAN : 

Falkes is to give him seizin of their land in Glamorgan. 
9th April, Falkes is directed to let William de Londres 
have the Priory of Ewenny , which is of his fee. Falkes 
was the notorious Falcasius de Breaute. 

By an entiy on the Patent Rolls of 5 March 1208, 
John calls on the Barons and Knights of the Honour 
of Glamorgan and of the Honour of Cardiff, to put in 
repair his houses in the Ballium of Cardiff Gastle as 
they were wont to do, so that they may discharge 
their Castle guards, as they value their fees. This 
shows that the greater tenants occupied houses in the 
Castle court, which were kept in repair hy them, 
though belongbg to the lord. ^ 

10th John, 1208-9, a charter roll contains the ac- 
counts of Falkes for £100 for the Honour of Glouces- 
ter ; for works at Cardiff and Neath Castles, £22 10$., 
and 100 marks for the custody of Swansea Castle» 
From Gilhert de Turherville 25 marks; from the monks 
of Neath 50 marks and a palfrey. From the Ahbot of 
Margam £17 16*. 6d., and from the same abbot, among 
the " oblata", 100 marks for having in free alms the 
Manors of Lalvereth and Haved Halown with appur- 
tenances, and similarly the Manor of Pettun and ap- 
purtenances, as in the King's charter. Agnes, widow 
of Hamelin de Torinton, a family related to the Umfra- 
villes and Sullys, pays 20 marks. Philip de Nerberd 
accounts for £20 for having his land Galfrid Whyt- 
ney (?) accounts for 200 marks and a palfrey for cus- 
tody of the lands and heir of Henry de Umphraville. 

lOth John, William son of Caswallon was allowed 
1 mark for the loss of his horse. In 1210 John was in 
Glamorgan ; 28th May and 28th August, at Margam, 
then spelt Margan or Morgan ; 21st May, at Neath ; 
and 29th Mav, at Swansea. At that time Gower 
seems to have been in his hands, and, 1 lth November 
1208, he freed the English and Welsh of that lordship 
from certain burthens connected with the Castle of 
Swansea. In 1210, Rhys and Owen, sons of Griffith ap 
Rhys, were sent as messengers to Falkes to try to 



THE CO-HEIBS OP THE LORDSHIP. 71 

bring about a peace ; but, notwithstanding this, 1 2th 
John, 1210-11, 50 marks were expended in strengthen- 
ing Swansea Castle ; a not unnecessary outlay, for in 
1211 the Welsh, under Cadwalon ap Ivor bach, burnt 
and plundered Glamorgan, as, in 1212, Rees Vachan 
treated the town of Swansea. 14th John, Falkes de 
Breaut^ is quitted £200 for the farm of Glamorgan for 
the preceding and current years. 31st April 1213, 
the King issued a brief of inquisition into the losses 
sustained by the Church in the late discords between 
the King and the Clergy of England, and that for the 
See of Llandaff was addressed to Richard Flandrensis 
of Glamorgan and Walter de Sulye. As the see was 
not vacant, they were probably selected as upright and 
independent assessors. In that year Gilbert, Abbot of 
Margam, was displaced, and was succeeded, 18th May, 
by John de Goldcliffe, one of the monks. Gilbert be- 
came a monk at Kirkstall, and died 12th May 1214. 

A little before this, 12th March 1213, the King 
allowed to Isabel, Countess of Gloucester, " rationabile 
testamentum quod fecit de rebus suis mobilibus", pro- 
bably with a view to her marriage. And, 16th 
January 1214, Peter de Cancellis is to bring safely to 
the King the Countess of Gloucester, now in his charge, 
apparently at Bristol Castle. Guion de Cancellis was at 
this time Custos of the Honour of Gloucester. 

After about thirteen years of widowhood, which, in 
a time when a widow with a large jointure as an in- 
heritance seldom remained single, may, without much 
fear of injustice to John, be attributed to his wish to 
retain the earldom in his own hands, Countess Isabel 
married Geoffrey Fitz-Peter or de Mandeville, the 
justiciary, who, on the death of his father, 2nd Octo- 
ber 1213, became Earl of Essex, and had livery of his 
paternal estates. No doubt the marriage took place 
very soon afterwards, for, 24th January 1214, the Ex- 
chequer was to allow £13 15.9. 8d., to be spent in robes 
for the Countess of Gloucester and her maidens, and by 
the 28th they were married, and Geofirey had certainly 



72 THE LAND OF MORGAN: 

been admitted to her lands, seeing that in February he 
was ordered to be disseized, because he had not paid 
the fees due. The precept for his admission " Honori 
de Glanmorgan" is addressed to Falke de Breaut^, and 
dated 26 January 1214. 

The fine for the marriage was 20,000 marks, and Geof- 
frey's relief on taking up the earldom of Essex was a 
similar sum, to be paid in four equal parts. Probably he 
.contrived to pay the first instalment at once, for, 9th and 
lOth of August 1214, the King informs the sheriffs of 
thirty-two counties that he has given Isabel to Geoffrey 
de Mandeville to wife, and that he is to have the whole 
Honour of Gloucester, and to be installed in all Earl 
William^s rights, except the castle, vill, and forest of 
Bristol, and the vill of Campden. The seizin of 
Geoflrey^s own lands in Bucks was not given till the 
23rd of June. 21st November in the sameyear, 1214, 
he witnessed John^s charter concerning the freedom of 
episcopal elections, as "Gaufrido de Mandevillae, Comite 
Gloucestrie et Essexie", and, as " Comes Gloucestrie", 
he was one of the twenty-five barons chosen under the 
Great Charter, 15th June 1215. In January in that 
year, he had witnessed a royal proclamation as Earl of 
Gloucester and Essex, and a late convention as Earl of 
Essex and Gloucester. Nicholas, however, dates his 
assumption of the earldom of Gloucester from 1215. 
In the Pipe Roll, 3rd John, 1202, £50 is allowed for 
the expenses of the Countess of Gloucester at Bristol, 
by two briefs of Geoffrey Fitz-Peter, and another £20 
for the same expenses, "predictae comitissse", also "per 
breve G : f : Peter". At this time the Honour con- 
tained three hundred andtwenty seven and three-tenths 
fees, besides twenty fees which could not be identified/ 

Geoflrey's usual style was Earl of Essex and Glouces- 
ter, and that of his wife Countess of Gloucester and 
Essex. Her charter to Basalleg, printed by Hearn (A. 
de Domerham, ii, 609), combines the two, and com- 
mences "Ego, Isabella, Comitissa Gloucestrie etEssexie, 
consensu et assensu domini mei Galfridi de Mandevilla 



THE CO-HEIBS OF THE LORD8HIP. 73 

Comitis Essexie et Gloucestrie". The divorce alienated 
the whole Gloucester interest from John, who also so 
mismanaged the marriage as to throw the new Earl aJso 
into opposition, which continued during the few months 
that intervened before his death, childless, before June 
1216, in London, in consequence of an accident at a 
tournament. John at once, 19th June, granted to 
Savary de Mauldon all the lands which had belonged to 
Geoffrey de Mandeville and his brother William, then 
probably in arms against the King. John himself died 
19th October, 1216. The accounts show that of the 
20,000 marks, Earl Geoflrey had paid half only, and the 
remainder, being a charge upon his estate, was de- 
manded at the hands of Earl William, his brother and 
successor, as late as 12th May 1226 ; and long after- 
wards, 18th June 1242, Letters patent were issued, 
allowing the remainder of the fine of 20,000 marks 
made by Geoflrey de Mandeville with King John, for 
the marriage of Isabel, Countess of Gloucester, to be 
paid by annual instalments of £40 10«s\, out of the third 
penny of the County of Essex. While a widow, Isabel 
granted a^charter to Margam, preserved at Penrice, as 
"Ego Ysabell Comitissa Gloucester 'et Essex' in libera 
viduitate mea", and another while still a widow, to 
Caerleon, but she speedily became the third wife of 
Hubert de Burgh, then justiciary. The date of this 
marriage is not recorded, but it must have been imme- 
diate, for, 13th August 1217, all the lands of the 
Countess of Gloucester were committed to Hubert de 
Burgh (Pat. Roll, lst Henry III, m. 4), and in the 
same year Hubert had livery of Walden, a part of 
IsabeFs dower, and, 17th September, the King in- 
formed the sherifls of nine counties that the Countess 
had come in to his fealty and service, and was to be 
placed as she stood before the war between the King 
and the Barons of England. This was under Henry III, 
and just after the battle of Lincoln. She died almost 
immediately, for, 1 5th October, was an order as to the 
custody of her land, she being dead (P. Roll, lst 



74 THE LAND OF MORGAN : 

Henry III, m. 1) ; and, 30th October, she, which must 
mean her estate, was called upon to pay scutage. 5th 
Henry III, Hubert married Margaret of Scotland. He 
does not appear as Earl of Gloucester; probably he had 
not time to fulfil the necessary fonnalities. He was 
created Earl of Kent llth February 1227, with re- 
mainder to his heirs by Margaret. 

Ieabel having died childless, the inheritance passed, 
de jure, to the son of her eldest sister, Mabel, who had 
married Almeric or Aymar de Montfort, Comte d'Ev- 
reux, who, as " Aumericus Comes Ebroicarum", tested a 
charter by Henry I to Conches in 1130, and is named 
in a Bull of Pope Eugenius in 1152. He died 1196, 
while the Earldom of Gloucester was in the hands of 
the Crown, leaving a son, also Almeric, whose poeition 
with regard to his mothers right is obscure. Mabel is 
probably the daughter of the Earl of Gloucester, to 
whom and her maidens was allowed, in the Pipe Roll 
of 7th Kichard I, 1196, "£17 2s. 7d. y and for vair furs 
about 37 s. 9 and for a Roserell £6". Sandford says, 
Henry II gave her £100 portion, because her father 
had passed her over and bestowed the earldom upon 
John. And the Pipe Roll, 4th John, already quoted, 
shows that her two sisters were allowed a share, though 
a small one, of the inheritance, the Earl of Evreux 
having 20, and the Earl of Clare 25 knight's fees. 

The date of the elder Earl Almeric'8 marriage is not 
recorded, but the younger Earl, in May 1200, at the 
instance of King John, ceded his right in Evreux to 
Philip Augustus, for which he had an equivalent. The 
cession is the subject of a document given in the Gallia 
Christiana (xi, p. Inst.), which begins "Ego Almericus 
Comes Gloucestrie", and states that he is acting "de 
mandato domini mei Johannis illustris regis Angli®", 
who " in sufficiens excambium inde donavit". William 
Mareschal is one of the witnesses. This was in May 
1200, the very month of John's divorce from Almeric'8 
aunt, and shows that, having himself no longer an 
interest in the title, he was disposed to allow the son 



THE CO-HEIRS OF THE LORDBHIP. 75 

of the elder sister to assume it, as he continued to do, 
and was allowed some fragments of the property. Thus, 
in the Pipe Roll, 3rd John, 1202, William de Falaise 
accounts for 1125. 7d., issues from the barton outside 
Bristol, "before it was given to Earl Almaric"; and by 
the same accounts"Almaric Comes Ebroic"': was allowea 
£20 out of the third penny of the county. Also, 26th 
January 1205, Falaise, as custos of the Honour, was 
directed to give to Earl Almaric, Bradested ; and 31st 
April, Petersfield and Mapledurham ; and 30th Decem- 
ber, Burford; and 16th August 1206, certain other 
manors, all which had probably been his mother^s join- 
ture. Also, he occasionally witnesses royal charters, 
sometimes as "A: comite Gloucestrie", and sometimes 
as "A : comite Ebroic'", as in 1204-5, or simply as 
"Coriies Gloucestrie", as a pledge in 1205 for Henry, 
son of the Earl of CornwaU for 4 marks ; nor is there 
anything in the subject of the documents to account 
for this variety. No document has been discovered in 
which he uses the titles together, nor does he ever ap- 
pear as Lord of Glamorgan or of the Honour of Glou- 
cester. He seems to nave died 1212-13, and was 
buried at Keynsham. Some further obscurities arise 
out of the disposition of the manors above mentioned. 
20th November 1213, Gilbert de Clare is to have seizin 
of two parts of the land which Aumeric, Earl of Evreux, 
had in Merlaw and Hameldon, co. Bucks, and Melisent, 
his widow, the third part. Also, 15th December, the 
Countess of Gloucester is to have her chattels in these 
manors; and, 4th January 1214, the executors of the 
will of "A: comitis de Ebroic'" are to have his chattels 
in Thornbury, Petersfield, and Mapledurham. Also, 
15th March 1217, William de Cantelupe, junior, and 
Melisant, who was the wife of Aumaric, Earl of Evreux, 
are to have her dower in Mapledurham and Petersfield, 
which she had from the Earl, her husband. Also, 2nd 
October, Gilbert de Clare was to give to William de 
Cantelupe and Melisant his wife possession of Merlaw, 
as part of her dower, and he is to answer to the King 



76 THE LAND OF MORGAN: 

for having disseised her of it. Finally, in 1215, about 
the 2nd of July, "Melisanta comitissa de Ebroill", ap- 
points as her attorney Henry de Neford, in a plea con- 
cerning land, between the Countess, the Archbishop of 
Canterbury, the Prior of Dunstable, Geoflrey de Man- 
deville, and Gilbert de Clare. The churchmen are pro- 
bably trustees, and Geoffirey and Gilbert represented 
the other sisters. 

It appears from P&re Anselms account (Hist. Geneal. , 
etc. 9 vii, 74), which, however, is foll of errors, that 
Almeric, evidentlv the son, married, secondly, Mele- 
sinda, daughter of Hugh de Gournay, who is doubtless 
the Melisant mentioned above. It is not improbable 
that the manors were originally settled on Mabel, that 
on her death they came to her son Almeric, and that 
in 1205 he was getting them resettled, on his marriage. 
The ordinary accounts make Mabel die before 1199, 
and her son childless in 1226, but the above entries 
show that he was dead in 1213, which may account for 
IsabeFs marriage, and her husband's assumption of the 
earldom in 1*214. Thus, the succession of the Earls of 
Gloucester from the death of Earl William was John, 
Earl of Moretain, Almeric Comte d'Evreux, and Geof- 
frey, Earl of Essex. 

The death of Earl Geoflrey in 1216 and of Countess 
Isabel, probably in 1217, cleared the way for the suc- 
cession, and makes it probable that the Annals of 
Margam are correct in stating that Gilbert de Clare 
assumed the earldom in 1217, although Nicholas places 
that event in 1126. He was certainly the Earl of 
Gloucester to whom the King sent a messenger at a 
cost of 6d. 9 9th March 1220, and another, who being 
sent to Clare, was paid ls., 17th April 1222, and who, 
19th February 1221, was rated for the scutage of 
Biham. He also appears in the great charter of Henry 
III as Earl of Gloucester. One of his early acts was to 
confirm to Tewkesbury the grants of his ancestors. 

However, or by whom, the lordship may have been 
held during the forty-three years that elapsed from the 



THE CO-HEIRS OF THE LORDSHIP. 77 

■ 

death of Earl William in 1173 to that of the Earl 
of Essex in 1216, after the latter event, it certainly 
vested de jure in the son of Amice, the second sister, 
who alone left issue, and it must be allowed that the 
new dynasty was one very capable of upholding and 
extending the title and inhentance of which it thus 
became the heir. The House of Clare ruled in Gla- 
morgan for four generations, during a period of eighty- 
eight years, from 1226 to 1314, including the reigns of 
Henry III, Edward I, and a third part of that of 
Edward II, his son. The long reign of Henry III, the 
weakness and vacillation of his character and conduct, 
and the general dissatisfaction with his foreign rela- 
tives and favourites, gave great cause and great en- 
couragement to the nobles to rebel, and at various 
times, and in the foremost rank of the disaffected, were 
the Earls of Gloucester and Pembroke, the former in 
the male line and the latter in the female, the repre- 
sentatives of the House of Clare, and the chief lords of 
the South and West Wales Marches. Their territory ex- 
tended almost from Pembroke to Chepstow, including 
much of Cardigan and a large slice of Nether Gwent. 
Their only rivals, the Barons Braose of Gower, Lords 
of Brecknock and Abergavenny, were far too violent to 
have any permanent weight, or to interfere seriously 
with the ambition of the House of Clare. Under 
William Mareschal the elder, Lord of Chepstow and 
Pembroke, and the heir of Strongbow in Ireland, the 
Lords of the March were kept in tolerable order, but 
his death left the King without restraint, and the suc- 
ceeding Earls Mareschal and of Gloucester with ample 
excuse, if not sufficient reason, for taking refuge in open 
rebellion. 

The history of the House of Clare belongs quite as 
much to that of England as of their Welsh lordships, 
and although their near relationship to the Mareschals, 
and their cEfferences with the Sovereign, caused them 
to rely much upon their position as marchers, they do 
not seem to have resided much at Cardiff, or to have 



78 THB LAND OF MORGAN: 

pursued any steady policy, either of peace or war, with 
regard to the Welsh. 

Gislebebt Crispin, the real founder of the Clare 
family, was the son of Godfrid or Goisfred, Comte d'Eu 
and de Brionne, a natural son of Rjchard the elder, 
Duke of Normandy. In the foundation charter of Bec 
Abbey, about 1034, he describes himself as "Gislebentus 
Brionensis Comes, primi Bicardi Normannorum ducis 
nepos, ex filio Consule Godefrido". These Norman 
earldoms are involved in much obscurity. Gislebert 
could scarcely have been Earl of the territory of 
Brionne, for his son continued to use the title of Comes 
after Brionne had been alienated. Probably it was 
personal. The sobriquet of Crispin was borne by 
another, also distinguished, Norman family, of whose 
founder the Monk of Bec records that he had "capillos 
crispos et rigidos, atque sursum erectos, et ut ita dicam, 
rebursos ad modum pini ramorum, qui ssepe tendunt 
sursum". Hence the name of " Crispinus, quasi crispus 
pinus", and such we may suppose to have been the 
character of the "chevelure" of Godfrid's immediate 
descendants. The county of Eu was taken from Gisle- 
bert by his kinsman Duke Richard II, and given to 
Gisleberts uncle, William. Brionne he retained, and 
Sap, said to be so caHed from a "sapin", or fir tree, 
planted in front of the church there. He was one of 
the young William'8 governors, but was assassinated in 
1035. His sons were Bichard and Baldwin, who, with 
his brother "Bicardus filius Comitis Gisleberti", wit- 
nessed the conveyance charter to Bury Abbey in 1081. 
(N. Mon., iii, 141.) Baldwin was Seigneur de Maule, 
and called also"de Sap", or"le Viscomte",or"d'Exeter". 
From him the Earls of Devon inherited Okehampton. 
His second son Robert had Brionne. 

Richard Fitz-Gislebert was also called de Bienfaite, 
not, as often said, from Benefield in Northamptonshire, a 
manor held, as Baker has shown, by Richard Engaine, 
but from a Norman benefice; and de Clare, and de 
Tunbridge, from his two principal English fiefs. On his 



THE CO-HEIRS OF THE LORDSHIP. 79 

father's murder he and his brother fled to Flanders, 
and returned thence to Normandy, when Matilda mar- 
ried Duke William, who gave him Bienfaite and Orbec. 
He also held Brionne. He accompanied William to 
England, was present at Hastings, and was richly re- 
compensed in JEnglish lands. His possessions lay in 
the counties of Beds, Cambridge, Devon, Essex, Kent, 
Middlesex, Suffolk, Surrey, and Wilts. In the Survey 
he is styled indiscriminately "Bicardus filius Gisleberti", 
"Ricardus filius Comitis Gisleberti", "Ricardus de Ton- 
bridge", and "Ricardus de Qara". His Kentish land 
seems to have been mainly confined to the Leuca or 
Lowy of Tonbridge, but it is remarkable that neither 
Tonbridge nor the also important Barony of Hastings 
axe named in Donwsday. Dugdale says he obtained 
Tonbridge by exchange for Brionne with Archbishop 
Stigand, but this is exceedingly improbable. That the 
Leuca was in some way connected with Canterbury is 
certain, from the claim set up for it by Becket, on the 
ground that church lands were inalienable. The con- 
troversy, however, seems rather to have related to the 
castle tnan to the lands, which the de Clares seem always 
to have accepted as held by grand sergeanty of the See. 
Tonbridge and Clare contained aiicient English for- 
tresses of the first class. 

Fitz-Gilbert's restless spirit was not content with 
176 manors in England : he burned for further acquisi- 
tions, and invadea South Wales, where he conquered 
Cardigan, but met with his death, being slain at Llan- 
thony by Yorworth, brother of Howel of Caerleon, 
about 1091. He was buried at St. Neots, and it is 
recorded of him, "Qui in re militari tempore Conques- 
toris omnes sui temporis magnates prsecipit" (Cott. mS. 9 
Vitell., F 4, f 7). 

Earl Richard married Rohaise, a daughter, and even- 
tually one of the two co-heirs of Walter Giffard, Earl of 
Buckingham, by Ermengarde Flaitel. This lady appears 
m Domesday, where mention is made of the "Terra 
Bothais uxoris Eicardi filii Gisleberti", in St. Neots, 



80 THE LAND OF MORGA^ : 

and she afterwards, in 1113, gave the Manor of St. 
Neots to the Abbey there, of which she was reputed 
the second foundress. She and her husband trans- 
planted a colony of French monks from Bec, exchanging 
them for the rebellious Englishmen, whom they im- 
prisoned in Normandy. Her charter (New Monasticon, 
lii, 472) mentions her husband, sons, and daughters. 
These were: — 1, Gislebert. 2, Robert of Dunmow, 
who married Maud de St. Liz, and died 31st Hemy I. 
He was ancestor of the family of Fitz-Walter. 3, 
Roger de Bienfaite, Lord of Orbec and du Hommet, 
who supported Duke Robert in 1080, but was after- 
wards attached to Rufus and Henry, whose life he 
saved at the battle of Brenneville, near Andelys, 1119. 
He died childless. 4, Walter of Nether Gwent, the 
founder of Tintern Abbey in 1131. He also died child- 
less. In their mother^s charter their order is Roger, 
Walter, and Robert. 5, Richard, Abbot of Ely, died 
1107. There were also two daughters, who married 
Raoul de Tillieres, and Baudry le Teuton of Bal- 
genzio. 

Rohaise married, secondly, Eudo Dapifer, the re- 

Juted builder of Colchester Castle, and founder of St. 
ohns Abbey there, where she is buried. 
Gislebert, mostly styled "de Tonbridge", but 
"Comes de dara" in his son's charter to Bury Abbey. 
He also held his father^s conquest in Cardigan, and had 
Aberystwith. His English predecessor ^Elfric, son of 
Withgar, had founded a chapel dedicated to St. John 
Baptist, with seven secular canons, in the Castle of 
Clare, whom this Earl replaced by monks from Bec. 
He married Alix, daughter of Rainald, Comte de Cler- 
mont in Beauvoisis,a benefactor to Thorney Abbey. 
They had : — 1, Richard. 2, Gilbert, called Strongbow, 
who reconquered Cardigan, and inherited Chepstow 
and broad lands in Monmouthshire from his uncles 
Roger and Walter. He was created Earl of Pembroke 
in 1138. He died 1148, and was buried at Tintern. 
By Elizabeth, sister of WaJeran, Comte de Meulan, 



j 



THE C0-HEIBS OF THE LORDSHIP. 81 

who, says Anselm, had been mistress to Henry I, he 
had Bichard Strongbow, the celebrated invader of 
Ireland, and ancestor, in the female line, of the 
Mareschals, Earls of Pembroke. 3, Walter de Sap. 
4, Herv& 5, Baldwin, who adhered to Stephen's cause, 
and with his brother Bichard witnessed the Con- 
queror's charter to Bury Abbey (?), and gave to the 
monks of Bec, Palletune juxta Sap (N. Mon., vi, — ). 
6, Louise, married Baoul, Seigneur de Coldon, living 
1113. 

Bichard Fitz-Gilbert, Earl of Clare, created Earl of 
Hertford. Clare seems to have been one of these per- 
sonal earldoms like Warrene, Ferrars, and Giflard, 
which did not represent a county, and was not even 
annexed to land, for although Clare was a manor and 
afterwards an honour, it does not seem ever to have 
been regarded as a territorial earldom. In the return 
in the Black Book of the Exchequer, the Earl of Clare 
prefixes his return " Carta de Honore Clar", without 
mention of himself. When it became the custom to 
adopt a surname, Gislebert or Bichard Fitz-Gislebert, 
Comes, became gradually known by that of the chief 
seat of his power, and it is probable that his correct 
designation would have been, not " Comes de Clara", 
but "Gislebert de Clara, Comes". 

The title of Hertford was altogether different. This 
was a regular earldom, representing a county, and 
endowed with the third penny from the issues of 
the county. Why that title was selected is un- 
known, for Hertford town and castle did not belong 
to the family, nor were they specially interested in the 
shire. Indeed, they seem to have held at that time 
but one manor in it, that of St. Wandon ; nor were 
they even sheriffs, for that office was held by the De 
Magnavilles. The third penny, however, had nothing 
to do with land. It was a grant by patent from 
the Crown, and not entered upon by seizin. It 
was the official fee of the English earls before the 
Conquest. The date of the creation of the earldom of 

G 



82 THE LAND OF MORGAN: 

Hertford is uncertain, but the reservation of the third 
penny in the fee-farm rents paid by the sheriff of the 
county shows it to have been either late in the reign of 
Henry I, or very early in that of Stephen. As to the 
limitation, the patent for the earldom is not extant, 
but possibly it would be held now that, like that of 
Oxford, it was confined to the heirs male of the body, 
because, on the death of Gilbert de Clare in 1314, his 
sisters did not take it. Gloucester, however — almost a 
contemporary title — descended, as has been seen, on 
three occasions to heirs female, and by the courtesy of 
England, was assumed by their husbands, Earls Al- 
maric, De Magnaville, and De Clare. King John, who 
assumed the title with the junior co-heiress, is said to 
have been created Earl of Gloucester, but that this was 
unnecessary is clear, for D'Evreux and De Clare, whose 
mothers were the other sisters, successively bore, and 
the latter transmitted, the title. Nevertheless, on the 
death of Gilbert de Clare, Gloucester, like Hertford, 
was held to be extinct. The Despensers, husband and 
son of the elder co-heir, did not claim it, and Audley, 
the husband of the next co-heir, obtained it only by a 
new creation, as did a more remote Despenser. It 
seems, therefore, that the practice had changed, and 
that earldoms which had formerly passed with heirs 
female did so no longer. It must be remembered, with 
respect to the earldom of Hertford, that there had been 
no early opportunity of proving its limitation, as the 
male line had never failed. 

Earl Bichard seems to have paid much attention to 
his South Wales possessions, and he, like his grandsire, 
met with his death from the natives, it is said from 
Morgan ap Owen, in the disturbances that broke out 
after the death of Henry I, in 1 135. His death is sup- 
posed to have occurred ui 1139; so that his enjoyment 
of the title of Hertford must have been brief. He was 
buried at St. Neot's. He married Christiana, sister of 
Ranulph, Earl of Chester, whose name, unknown to 
Dugdale, occurs in her husband's charter to Bury 



THE CO-HEIRS OP THE LORDSHIP. 83 

Abbey. They had — 1, Gilbert ; 2, Roger, successively 
Earls; 3, Walter; 4, Alice, who married Cadwaladr, 
second son of Griffith ap Conan, Prince of North Wales, 
one of those ill-assorted matches by which the marcher 
lords sought to consolidate their incohesive power. It 
must be this Alice of whom Fitz-Stephen says, writing 
of Earl Roger, " Qui et pulcherrimam totius regni 
sororem habebat, quam rex aliquando concupierat." 

Earl Richard, in 1134, removed the monks of Bec 
from his castle of Clare to the adjacent hill of Stoke. 
It appears from an Inspeximus (Pat., 1 Hen. IV, P.S. 
m. 25) of the confirmation charter of Henry II, that 
Earl Richard, son of Earl Gilbert, gave for his services, 
to Walter Bloet, the vill of Raglan and its appurten- 
ances, to him and his heirs, to be held by the service of 
one knight's fee. 

Gilbert, 4th Earl of Clare and 2nd of Hertford. In 
1146 he was a hostage at Stephen's court for his uncle, 
the Earl of Chester, to whom, however, he fled. He 
died childless, in 1152, nearly two yearsbefore Stephen, 
and was succeeded by his brother, 

Roger, 5th Earl of Clare and 3rd of Hertford. The 
title of Clare seems gradually to have been dropped, as 
the family name came into use, and, finally, the Earls 
are invariably described as of Hertford, and, after the 
acquisition of the Gloucester lands, as of Gloucester and 
Hertford, the former title dating from Henry I, the 
latter from Stephen. 

He witnessed a Bury charter, printed in the Coll. 
Topog. et Gen. (i, 589), and there dated 1154, no doubt 
in error for 1134. Earl Roger married Maud, daughter 
and heiress of James de Hilary , and by her had Richard, 
his successor, and Isabel, who married William Mares- 
chal, Earl of Pembroke, and thus strengthened the tie 
of blood between two powerful families, whose territorial 
interests were already also closely connected. Earl 
Roger seems to have had a son, James, who suffered 
from some congenital disease, expected to be fatal. The 
Earl offered 40 marcs to whoever should cure him, but 

G 2 



\ 



84 THE LAND OF MORGAN: 

would not allow an operation. When he was two years 
old, his mother took him to Becket's shrine, and im- 
plored the aid of the martvr; who cured him in three 
days. This was succeeded by another complaint, of 
which he was supposed to die, and was laid out. His 
mother, however, undeterred hy the rebukes of the 
Countess of Warwick, again implored the aid of the 
martyr, and again with success. (Bened. Mirac., St. 
Thomae, p. 255.) Earl Roger married a second wife, 
whose name is not recorded. He died 1173. 

In Earl Roger's time, Becket claimed the Estate and 
Lewy or Honour of Tunbridge, " pridem a Cantuariensi 
alienatum ecclesia"; a claim which gave great offence 
to both king and baronage, and which was resisted, as 
regarded the castle, by the Earl. The holding of the 
Lewy seems to have been admitted, but did not satisfy 
the Archbishop, who, indeed, also claimed Rochester 
Castle. The question was not finally settled till 1264, 
when a survey of the Lewy was executed, and the terms 
of the homage agreed to between Archbishop Boniface 
and Earl Richard. The Earls held as butlers and 
sewers, and as stewards, and in the one capacity had the 
manors of Bradstreet, Vielston, Horsmandene, Melton, 
and Petter, and in the other, Tunbridge and Handlo. 
The fees of office allowed by the Archbishops were 
splendid. The homage seems to have been regularly 
paid, and often in person, at the enthronization of eacn 
Archbishop, and as such is specially noted at those of 
Archbishops Kilwardby, Peckham and Winchester. It 
was carried on by the De Clare heiresses, and Hugh 
d'Audley paid homage to Archbishop Stratford, in 1333, 
and the Earl of Stafford to Sudbury, in 1375. The 
last act of homage seems to have been paid to Arch- 
bishop Warham, when he entertained Henry VIII and 
Charles V, at Canterbury, in 1520. On that occasion 
Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, one of the De Clare 
heirs, discharged the duties of sewer in person. 

Richard de Clare, 6th Earl of Clare and 4th of 
Hertford, witnessed, as Richard Fitz-Gislebert — used 



THE CO-HEIRS OF THE LOBDSHIP. 85 

apparently, as a family name, — Henry IFs confirmation 
of the Earldom of Oxford to Aubrey de Vere. He also, 
as Bichard Earl of Clare, witnessed letters by Bichard I 
20th March 1190, and 17th April 1194, and another 
document, 7th June 1199. lst John he married 
Amice, daughter and co-heir of William, Earl of 
Gloucester, whose inheritance neither he nor his wife 
lived to possess. To her, as to her sister Mabel, 
Henry II gave £100 wedding portion. The marriage 
took place before the lst of John, in which year she 
pleaded that by a precept of the Pope she had been 
separated from her husband Richard, Earl of Clare, on 
the ground of consanguinity, and she claimed Sudbury, 
which had been hers at her marriage (Abb. Plac, 
p. 25). In the 4th of John she repeated the claim, 
and 7th and 8th of John claimed the advowson of St. 
Gregories, Sudbury, which the Prioress of Eton said 
had been granted to Eton by Earl William, Amice's 
father (76., pp. 51, 92). 15th John, Amice, Countess of 
Clare, again claimed Sudbury, where she founded a hos- 
pital. No doubt the marnage difficulty had been got 
over by a dispensation from Rome. Earl RichanTs 
seal is extant, and bears the three chevrons, afterwards 
so widely known in South WaJes, and adopted by the 
Lords of Avan, the Earl's principal Welsh Barons. In 
his time King Richard divided the Giffard heritage, 
giving to Earl Richard the caput and estates in Eng- 
land, and to William Mareschal those in Normandy. 
It is to be remarked that neither heir made any claim 
to the earldom of Buckingham. 

Earl Richard seems to have died in 1217, when, 
28th November, Walter Fitz-Henry was to have seizin 
of his lands in Kent, " salvo rationabili testamento 
ejusdem Comitis" . . " teste ipso Comite"; probably 
the young Earl. Similar instructions were sent into 
other counties. The Earl was buried at Clare. Countess 
Amice seems to have died before 1226, the date of the 
death of her nephew Aymaric d^Evreux. Their chil- 
dren were : — 1, Gilbert ; 2, Richard, killed in London, 



86 THE LAND OF MORGAN: 

24th May 1221, and who probably is the Roger de 
Clare, Earl Gilbertfs brother, who was aJlowed £12 
on the llth February 1226, for his expenses in the 
Kingfs service with the Earl of Cornwall in Poitou ; 3, 
Bose, married Roger de Mowbray. The Chronicles 
state that the daughter of the Earl of Clare in 1217 
married Bhys Bahan (Vachan). She may have been a 
natural daughter. 

Gilbert de Clare, 5th Earl of Gloucester and 5th 
of Hertford, is stated in the Annals of Margam to have 
taken up the earldom, and to have confirmed the abbey 
charters in 1227, a statement corroborated by Gilberts 
witnessing, as Earl of Gloucester, in 1128, the declara- 
tion that the signature of Henry III to public docu- 
ments should not be valid until he came of age. Also, 
25th January 1218, Hugh de Vivonne was ordered to 
give up the forest of Keynsham to the Earl of Glou- 
cester, and, probably in consideration for his " regni 
novitas", the Barons of the Exchequer were "ponere 
in respectu" the EarFs scutage then due, until after 
Easter. 

With his paternal possessions and those of his 
mother Amice, Earl Gilbert inherited those of his 
grandmother Maud de St. Hilary, and a moiety of the 
Honour of Gifiard. The inheritance, as shown by his 
scutages, 7th Henry, extended into nineteen counties. 
As early as 12th John he fortified Builth Castle, and 
took an active part against the King. He was one of 
the twenty-five barons excommunicated by Pope Inno- 
cent in 1215, but at this time he was a party to the 
negotiations for peace, and 9th November had a safe 
conduct from the King, which was repeated 27th 
March 1216, after the fall of Colchester. He sided 
with the barons at Lincoln 20th May 1217, and was 
taken prisoner by his kinsman the Earl Mareschal, who 
aftarwaids maxried him to his daughter and eventual 
co-heir Isabel, a lady whose personal attractions pro- 
bably made the young captive a willing suitor. The 
Annals of Tewkesbury give 1214 as the date of the 



THE CO-HEIRS OF THE LORDSHIP. 87 

marriage, but this is almost cerfcunly an error. In 
1216 (?) he was assessed for a relief at £100 for each 
of his Honours of Gloucester and Clare, and at £50 for 
his half Honour probably of Giflard, the reliefs being 
levied on each Honour as on a Barony, without reference 
to its actual value, since Clare contained 140 fees and 
Gloucester over 327. He was also assessed upon his 
lordship of Glamorgan, which then contained 27^ fees, 
of which William de Kardiff held one ; John le Sor, 14; 
Thomas de la Mare, 10 ; and Thomas Blund half a fee. 
Probably, however, some of these holdings were in Eng- 
land, for most of the Glamorgan barons held also of the 
Honour of Gloucester. 

In 1218, died Clement, Abbot of Neath, to whom 
succeeded Gervais ; and 1 2th November, died Henry , 
Bishop of Llandaff, who was succeeded, October 1219, 
by William, Prior of Goldcliff. The Earl much desired 
to recover the family possession of Bristol Castle, and 
Hugh de Vivonne was directed to restore to him the 
berton of Bristol, the wood of Furcas, and the chase of 
Keynsham. This however, though the King's officer, 
he refused to do until he was provided with the means 
of maintaining the castle, for which the council had pro- 
mised him £100 in rent and 100 marcs in silver, 
nothing of which he had cus yet received. The order 
was repeated over and over again, "multitoties", in 
the course of 1219-20, but without effect. The Earls 
of Gloucester never recovered Bristol Castle. 

25th November 1218. Earl William de Magnaville 
and Earl Gilbert were allowed to settle, by a concord, 
a question relating to lands which they held together 
in wardship, and which evidently arose out of the 
affairs of Magnaville^s brother Geoflrey. 6th Henry 
III, 1221-2, Gilbert, Earl of Gloucester, is ordered not 
to go to Wales to take the castle of Dinas Powis, as 
the King had sent Robert de Vallibus to receive and 
deliver lt to the Earl. This was on the deaith of 
Somery, Baron of Dudley, who was Lord of Dinas 
Powis, and was evidently an attempt by the King to 



88 THE LAND OF MORGAN: 

obtain "primer seisin" in Glamorgan. In the next 
year, 14th March 1223, the Earl MareschaTs bailifls 
had a safe conduct from Henry de Chetham to gfo to 
Dinas Powis. The Earl paid scutage about this time 
for a Welsh expedition, and in 1224 the Welsh invaded 
Glamorgan, killing certain farm servants and a shep- 
herd's boy. Morgan ap Owen burned a house, belong- 
ing to Neath Abbey, with above 400 sheep, and killed 
several farm servants, and dangerously wounded a 
monk and some lay brethren. In 1223-4, 8th Henry 
III, the Earl had a safe conduct to attend the King. 
15th July 1224, he was to have four dolia of the 
Kings best wine, at cost price ; an order repeated the 
same day, in the Close Rolls ; and 23rd September, he 
was to have five dolia more from the wine retained at 
Bristol. 

lst January 1225, the Earl is to have from the Sheriff 
of Gloucester £20, as his ancestors had, "nomine comi- 
tatus", evidently a part of the third penny, as the Sheriff 
of Herts received a similar precept. 

13th February, he is to have from the Constable of 
Kenilworth one hundred " bresnas" [wether sheep ?] 
for his vivaries at Tewkesbury, "et de Shepton 
instaurand". A messenger despatched to him by the 
King, cost 12d. 28th August, the Bailiffs of Caer- 
marthen are to allow the Earl to hold the lands, late 
of Thomas de Londres, of which he has the wardship, 
with his daughter. This was probably as chief Lord 
of Ogmore. Eva de Tracy had her dower out of the De 
Londres lands, in Wilts. Wardships and their sale 
were a great source of the royal power and income, 
and Earl Gilbert, 3rd October, has that of the heirs of 
Walter de Tailly, with the maritagium ; and Waleran 
Teutonicus, and Sybil his wife, are to give up the 
daughter. 

In 1226 the Welsh burned St. Nicholas, Newcastle, 
and Laleston, and killed certain men. 29th October, 
the Earl paid 2,000 marcs for licence to marry his 
daughter Amice, then six years old, to Baldwin de 



THE CO-HEIRS OF THE LORDSHIP. 89 

Redvers, and £200 in land was allowed out of the 
estates of William, Earl of Devon, Baldwin's grand- 
father, presumably for her sustenance, until she came 
of age. In this year, 2nd November, the EaiTs 
daughter Isabel was born. A joint messenger, sent by 
the King to the Earl and the Earl of Chester, cost 15a. 
In this year the Earl joined the Earl of Cornwall against 
the King. 

In 1227, 16th February, William, Earl of Devon, was 
dead, and the Earl had licence to hold his lands. In 
this year the Welsh burned the Margam grange of 
Pennuth, with many animals, and killed many men ; 
aJso the grange of Rossaulin, with many sheep, and 
drove away eleven cows, and killed a farm servant. 
Also they cleared the grange of Theodore of animals, 
and burned several horses and great flocks of sheep, 
the property of Margam. 4th May, Bichard, the Earls 
brother, was killed in London. His violent death led to 
reprisals upon several of the King's servants. On the 
18th, the Earl's son, William, was born. Kenfig was 
burned by lightning, and a horse killed. In this year 
also the Earl captured Morgan Gam of Avan, and sent 
him, fettered by the feet, into England for security. 
This was mild treatment compared with what Morgan 
ap Cadwaladr met with, in the same yeax, from his 
nephew, Howel ap Meredith, who put out his eyes, and 
otherwise mutilated him. Notwithstanding the line 
taken by the Earl, he seems to have kept on some sort 
of terms with the Court, for, 4th September, he is one 
of the Lords accredited to the princes of the Empire, 
at Antwerp. Howel ap Meredith, in 1229, burned St. 
Nicholas and St. Hilary. In that year Morgan Gam 
was set free, giving hostages for his conduct, which, 
however, did not prevent him from burning Neath in 
1231. In this year the Earl is said to have discovered 
mines of silver, lead, and iron, in Wales. The two 
former have never proved profitable ; the latter were 
well known to, and, to some extent, worked by, the 
Romans. 1 5th Henry III, the Abbot of Margam paid 
1005. for having his charter confirmed. 



90 THE LAND OF MORGAN: 

In 1230 Henry made a disastrous expedition into 
Brittany, and of the magnates who attended him, 
many, says Wikes, died before his return, and some 
after it. Among the latter was Earl Gilbert, who died 
at Penros in Brittany, 25th October 1230. His fimeral 
was conducted with great state. The corpse was landed 
at Plymouth and brought across Devon and Somerset 
to Cranbourn, and thence to Tewkesbury, large doles 
being given to the poor on the road as it passed, and 
silken cloths, " panni cerici", to the religious houses. The 
>rocession reached Tewkesbury on the Saturday before 
St. Martins Day, and on Sunday the corpse was laid, 
temporarily, in its sepulchre before the high altar. 
The final burial was witnessed by the Abbots of 
Tewkesbury, Tintern, Flaxley, Keynsham, and Ture- 
ford (?) and an immense assemblage of persons of both 
sexes, lay and clerical. The Earl seems to have left 
two wills, one dated Suwick-super-Mare, 30th April, 
and the other in Brittany, 23rd October ; both in the 
year of his death. To Tewkesbury he bequeathed 
a silver-gilt cross ; and, during the minority of his son, 
the wood of Muth, by Severn side, which was con- 
firmed by Henry III in 1232, and reverted to the 
earldom in 1243. The monks laid a stone over his 
grave. 

In the Monasticon {N. M., vi, 453) is a confirmation 
by Earl Gilbert to Keynsham of a burgage in Cardiff, 
"which was Goye's", and another which had belonged 
to John Fitz-Baldwin, and of the whole park, fishing, 
and fishery of Rumeya (Rhymny), and botn the vivaries 
of Raz (Roath), with the mill and great vivary under 
Kibwr, and all the land of Raz, and all the forest of 
Kibwr, to be held as under Earl William, the grantor'8 
grandsire. 

The children of Gilbert and Isabel were : — 1, 
Richard; 2, William, born 18th May 1228, knighted 
in London at Christmas, 1250 ; 3, Gilbert, born 12th 
September 1229, a Clerk in Orders ; 4, Amice, married 
Baldwin de Redvers ; 5, Agnes ; 6, Isabel, born 2nd 



THE C0-HEIR8 OF THE LORDSHIP. 91 

November 1226, married, May 1240, Robert de Bruce 
of AnnandaJe, who died X295. 

Countess Isabel married, secondly, 30th March 1231, 
Eichard, Earl of Cornwall, much against the will of the 
King, his brother. She was, says Wikes, a woman of 
marvellous beauty. She was known as Isabel, Countess 
of Gloucester and Hertford, Cornwall and Poitou, and 
she died in childbirth at Berkhampstead, 17th January 
1239 pr 1240, and her mortal spoils were divided 
between three communities ; her bowels went to Mis- 
senden ; her heart, in a gilded urn, to Tewkesbury ; 

" Pars melior toto fuit pro corpore missa" 

was the Tewkesbury view of the partition. The body 
went to Beaulieu. She founded a chantry for Earl 
Gilbert and herself at Market Street, and Earl Richard 
founded one for her at Wallingford. Her will disposed 
of a curious collection of relics. Her epitaph at Tewkes- 
bury, where she herself had always wished to be buried, 
was as follows :- — 

Postrema voto legavit cor Comitissa : 
Pars melior toto fuit huc pro corpore missa. 
Heec se divisit, Dominum recolendo Priorem 
Huc cor quod misit, verura testatur amorem — 
Hiis simul Ecclesi» sanct» suffragia prosint, 
Ut simul in requie coelesti cum Domino sint. 

The ancestors of Earl Gilbert had, for eight genera- 
tions, been very considerable persons, both in Nor- 
mandy and England ; and their next of kin, of the 
line of Strongbow, now represented through a female 
by the Earls Mareschal, were scarcely their inferiors 
in power. Their other cousins, who continued in the 
maie line as Barons Fitz-Walter, aJso held large es- 
tates, and had at that time reached the climax of 
their power in the person of Bobert Fitz-Walter, 
styled by King Johns barons " Marshal of the army 
of God and the holy Church." The De Clares 
were also allied by marriage to the Earls of 
Chester and other leading nobles. Besides all these 



92 THE LAND OF MORGAN. 

sources of power, Eaxl Gilbert had received a great 
accession in the large inheritance derived from his 
mother, making him, by the bend sinister, which was 
then scarcely regarded as a discredit, of near kin to 
the sovereign, and endowing him not only with the 
valuable Honour of Gloucester, but with the Lordship 
of Glamorgan ; the privileges of which were of a regal 
character, and the position of which, securing to him 
an almost impregnable retreat, gave him great weight 
in the perpetual struggles between the Baronage and 
the Crown. From this time the house of Clare became 
the acknowledged head of the Baronage. Great per- 
sonal qualities, such as those possessed by the elder 
William Mareschal or by Simon de Montfort, brought 
them at times to the front ; but for steady hereditary 
influence, supported, on the whole, by moderation of 
conduct, and always by great personal valour in the 
field, no family at all approached to that of the Earls 
of Gloucester and Hertford. 



THE 

* 

EARLS OF GLOUCESTER AND HERTFORD. 



Richard de Clare, 6th Earl of Gloucester and 6th 
of Hertford, was born 4th August 1222, and was there- 
fore a little over eight years old at his father's death, 
2 5 th October 1230. His wardship was granted to Hubert 
de Burgh, then Justiciary, who had married the young 
EarFs great-aunt, then, however, some years deceased. 
In addition to the wardship, De Burgh, 26th Novem- 
ber 1230, had a grant of the homage and service of 
John de Braose for his Honour of Gower, described as 
held of the Honour of Caermarthen and Cardigan; 
which tenure however was never admitted by the 
Lords of Gower (P. Eoll, 15th Henry III, m. 7). Wil- 
liam de Goldcliff, Bishop of Llandaff, died before the 
Earl, 12th January 1229, when the custody of the 
bishopric was given to Maurice, archdeacon, and Ivor, 
a canon of Llandaff, and 23rd February, seisin of the 
lands was given to the Earl, the Earl Mareschal, and 
John de Braose, under wjiom the bishops held manors 
in different parts of the diocese. Elias, Treaaurer of 
Hereford, was confirmed, 30th August 1230, in the 
vacant See. 

At Michaelmas, Abbot Peter of Tewkesbury took 
seizin of their moiety of the Church of Llandir, pro- 
bably Llantwit-major, which WilHam, parson there, 
formerly held. After much dispute between the Abbot 
and the Welsh parishioners, some of whom wished 
that William^s brother should succeed, the Abbot gave 
way, but took a charge of eleven marcs yearly, the 
Abbey retaining a chapel attached to the church, to 
indicate possession. It was provided that if the farm 



94 THE LAND OF MORGAN : 

rent was not paid to the day, the tenant should lose 
his tenement ior ever. 

In 1231, 2nd June, Ralph Mailoc, a local celebrity 
in Glamorgan, died. A httle after this, in 1266, the 
Abbot of Neath acknowledges from Sir William May- 
loc, the land of Bluntesmore in the fee of Ogmore, 
to be let in farm to Sir William on the same terms 
that he held it from Peter Blundus. Thomas, Dean of 
Hereford, Peter, Abbot of Tewkesbury, Maurice, Arch- 
deacon of Llandaff, Master B., Rector of Thornbury, 
and others, met at Striguil to arrange respecting the 
Church of Llanblethian which Mailoc had held of 
Tewkesbury, and which by the Court of Rome and the 
confirmation of the Bishop had been granted to be 
held impropriate. It had been given away by the 
Bishop, although shortly before he liad already granted 
it to a chaplain, who, however, renounced, and accepted 
a vicarage from the Abbot. 

About Michaelmas, the monks sent Brother Eustace 
to receive seizin of Llanblethian Church, which Mailoc 
had held. He found the church locked and the key 
carried off to the mountains ; so he took seizin in the 
porch, and protested against this invasion of the pri- 
vileges of the Abbey. The Welsh replied to this by 
taking him prisoner on the highway, and keeping him 
three days in the mountains. In rejoinder, the Bishop 
excommunicated the wrong-doers generaUy, and laid 
the matter before Hubert de Burgh, the custos. The 
Abbot, also, in presence of his monks, excommunicated 
a certain J. Grant, probablv of Sigginston, who had 
laid hands on Eustace. No doubt the resistance to the 
Abbotfs claim was encouraged by the concurrent inva- 
sion by Llewelyn, who attacked Brecknock, descended 
upon Caerleon, and thence retired across the hills to 
Neath, where he laid siege to the castle, which was 
surrendered about 29th June. Aided by Morgan Gam, 
of Avan, he burned the town, levelled the castle, and 
extorted 60 marcs from Margam. All this seems to 
have been provoked by the violation of an existing 



THE EAHLS OF GLOUCESTER AND HERTFORD. 95 

truce ; for 20th February 1232, the King writes to 
assure Llewelyn that he has, by his brother Earl 
Richard, ordered that the infraction of the truce by 
Eichard Siward be made good. 

De Burgh fell in July 1232, and was displaced as 
custos 15th August; and lOth September Peter de 
Bivaux has a patent of custody of the castles of Cardifi 
and Newport, and of those generally of Glamorgan, 
Cardigan, and Caermarthen. 17th October Henry de 
Turberville is custos of the lordship of Glamorgan, 
and 19th December Ra. de Hurle is to receive the 
issues of the lands, etc, of Glamorgan and WentUoog, 
and the custody of Cardiff, Newport, and Newcastle. 
Peter remained in power till 1235, giving great dis- 
satisfaction. Just before De Burgh retired, 1 3th April 
1232, the King allowed the young EarFs claim "de 
collatione baculi," as to Tewkesbury; and De Burgh, in 
consequence, gave the monks leave to elect an Abbot, 
who was confirmed by the King. This was the Abbot 
who leased the " Gurges" or pool of Cardiff for five 
years to Henry the Chaplain. Fishing seems then as 
now to have been a sport allowed to the clergy. The 
same claim was allowed for Keynsham. It seems to have 
been usual to allow to the representatives of the founder 
the privilege of collating to an abbey, but a license for 
its exercise was necessary. Thus, 16th April 1200, 
John granted to Wm. Earl Mareschal the privilege of 
bestowing the pastoral staff of Nutley, in Bucks, an 
abbey founded by Walter Giffard, but within the 
Earl's fee. 

In 1232 Llewelyn again invaded Glamorgan, and 
attacked Kenfig. The cattle had been removed, and 
to clear the way for the defence, the people burned a 
part of the town within, that is to say close to, the 
gates. The Welsh, on their part, led by Morgan 
Gam, burned what was outside the waJls, and attacked 
the castle keep, then only defended by a hedge and 
a ditch. They were then driven off, and fled to the 
hills. It was observed that on this occasion, they 
spared the lands of the Church. 



96 THE LAND OF MORGAN: 

Events were now ripe for the breaking out of the 
war betweeii the King and the Earl of Pembroke. 
Earl Richard Mareschal, a scholar and a soldier, a 
moderate and an honest man, "murus inter dominum 
regem et magnates", had just succeeded his brother 
William ; and, forbearing as he was, found himself 
driven to oppose in arms the King^s violence and im- 
prudence. The dissatisfaction was very general, and 
broke out in Monmouth and Glamorgan in a civil war, 
which, continued by De Montford and the Earl of 
Gloucester, led to the battles of Lewes and Evesham, 
and the siege and ban of KenUworth. The services 
of De Burgh were fbrgotten, and Heniy was inflamed 
with jealousy against that great statesman, who, always 
loyal to the Crown, and succeeding Pandulph as mi- 
nister, had composed the Irish war, quelled the dis- 
content in Gascony, kept Llewelyn and the Welsh 
within moderate bounds, razed Bedford Castle, exiled 
De Breaut^, and procured the Bull declaring Henry 
of full age, upon which the royal castles had been 
surrendered to him by the Lords who had held them 
during the minority. De Burgh was ill exchanged for 
Peter des Roches, an ecclesiastic of violent and dan- 
gerous counsels, a foreigner, and intensely unpopular. 
In 1232 the Abbot of Tewkesbury had a royal writ to 
receive his accustomed payment from the Honour of 
Cardiff; and another writ, 24th May 1233, for Peter de 
Rivaux, was addressed to Ranulph de Hurle, bailiff of 
Glamorgan. Both, therefore, were still in office. 

Amone the disaffected in Glamorgan were Philip 
Basset, whom the King had deprived & a manor give£ 
him by King John ; and Bichard Siward, a bold and 
distinguished soldier, and one of the Earl of Glouces- 
ter's mdst turbulent barons. Siward, who owned the 
castle of Talavan, had married Basset's sister, Philippa, 
widow of the Earl of Warwick, according to some ac- 
counts without the Kings license. The Earl, Henry 
de Newburgh, also Lord of Gower, had died in 1229, 
and Philippathen paid 100 marcs not to be distrained 



THE EARLS OF GLOUCESTER ASD HERTFORD. 97 

to many, and if she did marry, to have leave to marry 
any faithful subject. She did marry, before lst March 
1231, Richard Siward, and that this was not then dis- 
approved by the King appears from a writ to the 
Sheriff respecting certain payments due at the Exche- 
quer. Siward's real offence seems to have been his 
attachment to the Earl Mareschal, and his opposition 
to Bishop des Eoches. 

Henry summoned the Barons to a meeting at Oxford 
24th June 1233, which the Earl Mareschal and his 
friends decided to decline to obey, as they did a further 
summons for the llth July. They further informed 
the King that unless he dismissed his foreign advisers 
they would renounce their allegiance. Henry had laid 
hands on and had destroyed the castles of some of the 
Earl Mareschal's followers and had given their lands to 
his alien relations. On the lst July, the barons met 
the King in London, but as the Earl MareschaJ, warned 
by his sister, feared treachery, he turned back at 
Woodstock and rode to Wales. Nothing was decided 
at the meeting. Henry then summoned his military 
tenants to Gloucester for the 15th August. As Earl 
Richard was again absent, he and his adherents were 
proscribed as traitors, the EarVs lands were seized and 
laid waste, especially, 2nd November, his house and 
gardens in Worcestershire, and a day was named for 
his trial. Henry, evidently looked for support among 
the mixed English and Welsh in the rear of the Earl 
MareschaTs head-quarters, for 6th August is issued a 
writ to the bailiffs of Bristol stating that, "Although 
the King has directed them not to let any victuals be 
taken from their town, yet they are to allow the men 
of Cardiff, Swansea, and Carmarthen to do so, they 
^ving security not to take them elsewhere." The 
ing's proscription caused the Earl Mareschal to close 
an alliance with Llewellyn, offensive and defensive, 
each party swearing not to make peace without the 
consent of the other. The Earl of Cornwall took part 
with the insurgents. Henry having received an acces- 

H 



98 THE LAND OF MOBGAN: 

sion of force at Gloucester, crossed the Severn, and 
marched on Hereford. His object seems to have been 
to attack from the west the Earl MareschaTs chief 
castle of Chepstow, and his plan to descend the valley 
of the Usk, taking advantage of the support of John of 
Monmouth, to whora belonged that town and castle, 
and of Morgan of Caerleon, who held the lowlands of 
Gwent, and thus to interpose between the Earl, who 
lay westwards near Cardiff, and his sister Margaret de 
Braose and Walter de Clifford, who held Abergavenny 
and Builth, and the country and strong places of 
Irchenfield, west of Hereford. In executing this plan 
he descended the right bank of the Usk, and at Usk 
laid siege to the castle, which was found to be so strong 
that the King offered terms. What actually took 
place is doubtful ; the general, though not very pro- 
oable, account is that the King asked for the surrender 
of the castle to save the royal credit, and pledged him- 
self to restore it uninjured in fifteen days ; to which 
the Earl agreed, and gave up the place, which, how- 
ever, the King retained, breaking faith. Henry entered 
Usk about the lst September, and this success, how- 
ever obtained, was the first important feature in the 
campaign. In the castle he placed Henry de Turber- 
ville, an eminent captain, who had been seneschal 
of Gascony, and who was ordered to give up the stores 
therein contained, an order certainly given, and which 
seems scarcely consistent with this alleged breach of 
faith. Moreover, the surrender of Usk was followed, 
8th September, by the establishment of a truce, settled 
at Abergavenny, the terms of which were, however, 
construed very differently by the King and by the 
Earl. 12th September, Henry was at Hereford, whence 
he directed the Vicecomes of Cardiff to restore all the 
booty taken on the Earl MareschaTs lands, and called 
on the Earl and Morgan of Caerleon to do the same, a 
summons which does not seem to have been obeyed. 
The King retired to England, promising concessions, 
and summoned a meeting for the 2nd October. Here 



THE EARLS OF GLOUCESTER AND HERTFORD. 99 

Earl Bibhard'8 friends demanded his trial by his peers, 
a right denied by Bishop Peter, who thus placed him- 
self in opposition to the whole baronage. 

Meantime, the Earl was under arms, and by the aid 
of Philip Basset and Siward, De Burgh was rescued, it 
would seem against his will, from the Devizes, and 
brought in safety by way of Aust to Chepstow. The 
Oseney Chronicle says Siward put arms into his hands 
and brought him away "nobili vehiculo". Wykes 
gives a more circumstantial detail, and says he escaped 
from the castle by night, being let down from the 
window-grate by napkins and towels, when he took 
sanctuary in a church on the outer edge of the castle 
ditch, whence he was rescued by Siward and Bassett. 
20th September, the King wrote to Richard Mareschal 
no longer to harbour Siward and his fellows, but Siward 
was far too useful to be disavowed. 

Henry bid high for the support of the young Earl of 
Gloucesters tenants, writing from Ledbury, 2nd. De- 
cember, to Reymund de Sully, a principal Glamorgan 
Lord, as the Close Roll, 15th December 1233, states : 
"R,ex significat Rey : de Sully quod bene placet regi 
quod ipse et alii probi homines de partibus suis veniat 
ad fidem et servitium regis dum tunc securitatem faciat 
de bono et fideli servitio, etc." 

2nd December, Henry laid hands on SiwanTs lands 
at Chedworth and Brailes. Also, 3rd November, the 
lands atSouthMouiton and Marshfield,of Gilbert deTur- 
berville of Coyty, had been seized, and given to Herbert 
Fitz-Matthew ; those of Roger Berkerolles in Somerset 
were given to Ralph de Hurle, who died before 22nd 
Henry III, and was succeeded as Bailiff of Glamorgan 
by Toran de Hurle. The lands of John le Sor at 
Alwrington went, 7th November, to William Bloet ; of 
William de Somery in Somerset to William de Boils ; 
those of Simon and Richard de Pincerna in Devon to 
Simon de Sleland ; those of Gilbert de Umfreville at 
Court-Labeford to Roger la Suche ; those of David 
B&sset in Wernford to Philip Choatte. Those of Wil- 

H 2 



100 THE LAND OF MORGAN: 

liam de Barry in Devon, of Thomas de Sanford in 
Berks, of John de St. John, William and John de Regny, 
Peter le Butiler, Thomas de Hawey, and William le 
Fleming, were also taken ; and even Reymund de Sully 
did not escape, his lands at Alsiston being given to 
de Boils. All this shows the close connection in pro- 
perty between the holders of fees in Glamorgan, and of 
those in the counties of Somerset and Devon. 

Cardiff Castle seems to have been held for the King, 
as Warene Basset, one of the EarFs partisans, was 
killed in an assault upon it, 15th October 1233, and 
was buried at Llandaff, 21st October. The Earl was 
then at Cardiff, having burned Monmouth. 17th 
November, he defeated the King at Grosmont, where 
Hugh de Sanford was killed, and forced the barons 
and knights of Glamorgan, and the burgesses of 
Cardiff, to give hostages for their good behaviour. 
Henry again offered terms, which the Earl, then at 
Margam, refused, and his adherents kept up a harrass- 
ing war from Newport and Cardiff against the shipping 
of Bristol. Towards Christmas, Siward harried the 
lands of the Earl of CornwaU, an offence never for- 
given. Nevertheless, 7th January 1234, the Countess 
of Warwick was allowed to go to the Marches of Wales, 
to her husband, R. Siward. 

The Earl MareschaTs position, west of Chepstow, was 
not without its dangers. The actual Lord of Glamorgan 
was a minor, and in the King's hands, and the war was 
by no means popular with the people, who had every- 
thing to lose, and nothing to gain by it. The knights 
and barons who, with their tenants, formed the mili- 
tary strength of the lordship could not afford to give a 
steady support to the Earl, as almost aJl held fees of 
considerable value in Devon, Somerset, or Gloucester, 
all in the King's power. That many of them were 
disposed to listen to the King is made probable by his 
letter above quoted, and all the English settlers in 
Wales must have been alarmed at the Earl MareschaVs 
intimacy with the Welsh ; and ? indeed, it appears from 



THE EARLS OF GLOUCESTER AND HERTFORD. 101 

one of Henry's letters to Llewelyn, 22nd August 1234, 
that there was a report that the Earl had gone so far 
as to grant to Morgan Gam and other Welshmen lands 
which belonged to the Earl of Gloucester. 

Towards the end of 1233, Bishop Peter seems to have 
created a diversion in Ireland, where the Earl Mareschal 
had agreat interest,acquired byhis ancestor Strongbow, 
and whither he went, in consequence, leaving the con- 
duct of the Welsh war to De Burgh, Siward, and Philip 
Basset. In Ireland the Earl was mortally wounded, and 
died a prisoner at Kildare, 15th April 1234. Meantime, 
and probably before the news reached England, the 
Earl's partisans were active. Siward scoured Berk- 
shire, and under cover of Windsor Forest made the 
country unsafe, and threatened the Exchequer mes- 
sengers who carried money, 29th April. A little later, 
2nd May, the King informs the Sheriff of Gloucester 
that in the way from Wallingford to Reading, Siward 
had seized the baggage of Stephen de Segrave, De 
Burgh's enemy and successor. The Sheriffs, however, 
were foiled, and Siward reached Wales in safety. Thos. 
Siward, his nephew, was taken at Hereford, as was St. 
Philibert, another nephew, lOth May. 

The Earl MareschaFs death left the party without a 
leader, and the war ceased, although the position of the 
insurgents enabled them to secure excellent terms, 
which included Llewelyn, De Burgh, Siward, and their 
followers. Bishop des Koches was dismissed from power. 
17th May 1234, the men of Glamorgan were referred 
to Henry de Turberville for the terms on which they 
might be admitted to the King's peace; and 26thMay, 
the King, by documents entered on the Close Bolls 
formally laid aside his indignation against Gilbert 
Mareschal, Hubert de Burgh, Bichard Siward, Gilbert 
and Philip Basset, William Crass, H. de Barry, William 
of Christchurch, and Bichard de St. John, and by an 
entry on the Patent Roll, 25th May, they were par- 
doned. Thos. Siward was released, and on the 18th 
May and 3rd June, Richard Siward was actually placed 



102 THE LANB OF MORGAN: 

in charge of Glamorgan, to which, 17th July, Swansea 
was added ; and that this carried the lordship of Gower 
with it, appears from a precept on the Close Roll in- 
forming Siward that because the King understands 
that the " maritagium" of Agnes, daughter and heir 
of William Mara, pertains to Margaret de Braose as 
part of her dower, the £100 fine which Eobert de 
Penris made for her with Peter de Rivaux is to be 
paid over to Margaret. Rivaux had evidently usurped 
the "maritagium" from Margaret, and Siward as custos 
is to redress the wrong. 

With the rest, the King extended his favour to the 
Barons of the Honour of Gloucester, Roger Berkerolles, 
Roger de Hide, Gilbert de* Turberville, Richard Pin- 
cerna, William Flandrensis, Wydo Wak, and Hoel son 
of Archid, the two bailiffs of Swansea, Reymund de 
Sully, John de St. John, and Gilbert de Umfreville. 
1 7th July, Richard Lelande was ordered to inspect the 
lands held by H. de Burgh as guardian of the Earl of 
Clare, and to report how they had been held by Peter 
de Rivaux and Richard Passelewe. This seems to have 
been preparatory to the handing them over to a new 
guardian. Siward's appointment was in fact tempo- 
rary, and 23rd January 1235, he had a safe conduct to 
surrender the lordship to Gilbert, Earl of Pembroke, 
who was admitted 28th February, and having been 
allowed the title and estates of his late brother, 
Richard Mareschal, was, llth June, girded with the 
sword of the earldom. For the wardship of his ne- 
phew, and the lordship of Glamorgan, during the re- 
mainder of the minority, he fined 500 marcs. This 
acquisition placed the whole seaboard from Chepstow 
to Pembroke and Aberystwith, Gower alone excepted, 
in the hands of Earl Gilbert. Among those now re- 
stored were John de St. Quintin, who was to have his 
castle of Llanblethian and other lands in Glamorgan, 
Peterle Botiller, Thomasde Hawey, Thomasde Saund- 
ford, John de Reynv, Robert Fitz-Payn, Richard le 
Butiller, Jordan de Aunteston, Maurice de Cantilupe, 



THE EARLS OF GLOUCESTER AND HERTFOKD. 103 

William de Barry, and William de Reyny. Also, as 
part of the general amnesty, the men of Bristol were 
to let those of Swansea have the wine that had been 
seized ; and the Abbot of Margam's ship was to be given 
up to John, the cellarer of that house. Neither were 
the burgesses of Bristol to vex those of Swansea by 
requiring of them customs' dues contrary to King 
John's charter and its confirmations. 9th June 1235, 
the Abbot of Neath had a license to send ships to 
England to trade. The amnesty extended to Ireland, 
and 7th November 1235, Milo de Rochford, taken in 
the war with Richard Earl Mareschal in Ireland, was 
to be released. 

Soon after, 12th March 1236, Ralph of Newcastle, 
having scruples of conscience about the source whence 
he received his church, renounced it before the chapter 
of Llandaff, and again accepted it as a free gift from 
the Abbot of Tewkesbury. 22nd April, the same Abbot 
and convent gave to Elias, Bishop of Llandaff, the 
church of Lanederne, retaining the tithes of Lambor- 
dan for the use of the priors of Cardiff, to whose sus- 
tenance they belonged. About the same time the Bishop 
and chapter confirmed to the same Abbot all the eccle- 
siastical benefices he held in the diocese. 4th July, 
Bichard Siward seems again to have given offence, for 
he wa8 taken at Gloucester, though soon afterwards 
set free. 

According to Matthew Paris, one of Henry's griey- 
ances against De Burgh was that he had married his 
daughter Margaret to Earl Richard, the Kingfs ward, 
and a minor, without the leave of the King, wno seems 
to have intended to marry him to his own niece, a Pro- 
venjal. Hubert denied this, and said he had no know- 
ledge of the matter. A curious account of the whole 
affair is recorded in the Close Roll of the 22nd Henry 
III, and extracted by Sir Duflus Hardy, whence it 
appears that, theday after Michaelmas 1238, the King 
had Hubert before him at Eccles, and called on him to 
resign all claim to the marriage of Richard de Clare, 



104 THE LAND OF MORGAN: 

that being one of the conditions of his pardon. Hubert 
took time to answer, and, finally, met tne King at Ken- 
nington, where he stated that after the reconciliation 
at Gloucester, Henry led him to the altar and asked 
him to swear never again to mention the subject of 
the marriage, which he did, and took no further steps 
in the matter. On this, however, some of his friends 
said things had gone so far that the parties ought to 
be affianced, and the Countess said her daughter was 
committed, and that a marriage had actually taken 
place at St. Edmunds, while De Burgh was besieged 
at Merton. The matter was never quite cleared up, 
but Hubert does not appear to have been to blame, 
whatever may have been the case with his countess. 
He nevertheless had to make his peace by promising a 
sum of money to the King. 

Margaret seems to have died soon afterwards, m 
November 1237. The matter is obscure, and De Burghs 
statement is supported by the fact that the King sold 
the Earl's "maritagium", 26th October 1237, to John 
de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, for 3000 marks, and the re- 
mission of a debt of 2000 more, but this was subject to 
a power of cancelling the agreement, if by transferring 
the "maritagium" there should be any chance of bring- 
ing the Comte de la Marche to the Kinefs party. This 
was not acted upon. The bride was the Earl of Lin- 
coln's eldest daughter, Maud de Lacy, and the mar- 
riage took place 2nd February 1238, when the Earl 
was about sixteen years old, and seems, from an entry 
on the Patent Rolls, to have had opinions of his own, 
not at that time specially favourable to the royal cause. 

26th August 1237, died John de Goldcliff, Abbot of 
Margam, and was succeeded by John la Ware. 8th 
March 1238, was a suit between Eichard Fitz-Bichard 
and Thomas de Marini, and the Abbot of Neath, for 
common of pasture in Horblauton. 30th August, 
Ralph de Somery, the farmer of the chapel of Cogan, 
died, and Wm. le Fleming of Glamorgan, led by 
evil counsels, declared himself attorney for the Lord 



THE EARLS OF GLOUCESTER AND HERTFORD. 105 

Richard de Cogan, presented the son of Wm. de 
Keymin (Reigny) to the chapel, and summoned by 
writ of last presentation Robert, Abbot of Tewkesbury, 
before the comitatus at Cardiff. After much dispute, 
William was adjudged not to be the attorney. 

The year opened with the secret marriage, 7th 
January 1238, of Simon de Montfort with the King's 
sister Eleanor, the widow of William Earl Mareschal. 
This, which soon was known, gave great offence, Simon 
being then considered in England only as an obnoxious 
foreigner, while Eleanor had taken vows of chastity. 
Henry's own conduct, and his readmission of foreigners 
to power, promoted the general disaffection, and the 
King's brother, Richard Earl of Cornwall, and Richard 
Earl Mareschal, the leaders of the opposition, were 
expelled from court. In November the Bishop dedicated 
altars at Llandaff to the Saints James and Nicholas, and 
endowed these altars with certain spiritual advantages. 

On St. Oswald's day, probably 5th August 1240, 
being a day over his eighteenth birthday, the young 
Earl was admitted to be of age for certain purposes, 
and he redeemed his Glamorgan lands and repaid to 
his guardian the 500 marcs, the price of his wardship. 
Dugdale, however, places this transaction in the 19th 
Henrv III, 1234-5. In May 1240, the EarFs daughter 
Isabel was born, and 13th May died Elias Bishop of 
Llandaff, and Waleran Teutonicus was put in to admi- 
nister the temporalities of the see. He also collated to 
two stalls and the archdeaconry. The chapter then 
elected Maurice, also archdeacon, to the see, but he was 
set aside by the King. Next they elected William of 
Christchurch, who held the seat, but without installa- 
tion, till 1244, when he resigned, no doubt because 
disapproved by the King. Finally, another congS 
cTelire was issued, and, 30th July 1246, William de 
Burgh, a king's chaplain, became Bishop. 23rd May, 
the Earl of Cornwall and Simon de Montfort left Eng- 
land for Palestine. They were escorted to Marseilles 
by the French king. During their absence Gilbert 



1 



106 THE LAND OF MORGAN: 

Earl Mareschal died from the effects of an accident. 
Henry notified his death officially, 29th June 1241, to 
John de Monmouth, whom he orders to take posses- 
sion of the Earl's castles of Strigoyl, Usk, and Karelion; 
and should their keepers make resistance the King is 
to be informed at once. The Earl was succeeded by 
Walter the third brother. Henry at first refused him 
livery of the lands, but at last gave way, and on the 
Sunoay before All Saints he was recognized as Earl 
Mareschal and of Pembroke. The King, however, 
resumed the custody of the castles of Cardiff (Caermar- 
then?) and Cardigan, which Hubert de Burgh and 
Earl Richard had held. The Welsh had been trouble- 
some, but by August 1241 they were quieted, and 
28th August 1242, Henry remitted his displeasure 
against the Abbot of Margam, who had harboured 
William de Marisco. In this year died Morgan Gam 
of Avan, and was buried at Margam. In this year 
also, 26th Henry III, the Sheriff of Norfolk is ordered 
to assign a dower to Alice, who had been wife of Roger de 
Clare, out of the lands which he had held of the heir 
of Earl Gilbert, now in the King's custody ; Alice paid 
200 marcs to have the custody of Roger's lands in Mid- 
dleton and the marriage of the heir. (Abb. Rot. Or., 
26th Henry III.) In 1241, Fitz-Hamons body was 
translated into the choir at Tewkesbury, and placed 
on the left of the high altar. 7th August 1242, Gilbert 
de Sully, vicar of K., died, and 4th September the 
Abbot of Tewkesbury put in Walter Alured. 

25th Jnly 1242, a dispute arose between Howel ap 
Meredith, Khys ap Griffith, and Gilbert de Turberville, 
touching an infraction of the truce in Miscin and 
Senghenydd. Robert, Abbot of Tewkesbury, William 
de Cardiff, James de Clare, and others the EarFs friends 
were sent down to make inauiries. They summoned a 
" comitatus" at Cardiff, 28th July, took hostages from 
the Welshmen, and lodged them in Cardiff Castle, and 
so restored quiet. The Abbot took the opportunity to 
visit Llanblethian to accept the transfer of the church, 



THE EARLS OF GLOUCESTER AND HERTFORD. 107 

in pursuance of the decree of the prior of Winchcombe, 
Papal subdelegate. This related to the incumbency 
and farm of the benefice of which Roger Mailoc, pro- 
bably a nephew of Ralph, had been deprived for 
arrears of rent. The see being then vacant, the arch- 
deaocm, as ordinary, presenteH Thomas de Pennarth. 
The Abbot refused to allow this ; upon which Thomas 
resigned, and accepted the benefice at the hands of the 
Abbot, with the obventions and profits of the church, 
excepting the tithe sheaves. On this Roger sued the 
Abbot before the comitatus. Roger had an uncle Rhys, 
and was otherwise well supported, so the Abbot offered 
him a pension of five marcs, which at the EarFs re- 
quest was raised to six, but still was refused as insuf- 
ficient. The Abbot, as a safeguard, took letters of 
protection from the Earl, addressed to the vicecomes. 

The Earls returned from the Holy Land early in 
1242, but the Earl of Gloucester was probably too 
young to take part in the fierce discussion that then 
arose in Parliament, as to assisting the King to recover 
his foreign possessions. No doubt his sympathies were 
with his stepfather, the Earl of Cornwall, but nothing 
is heard of him before the 4th August 1243, when he 
was of full age. A message was sent to Henry, then 
on the continent, pressing him to give seizin of the 
estates by letter. This he declined to do, and the 
Earl actually had seizin at Winchester 29th August, 
and, finally, 23rd September, the King accepted his 
homage. (Plac. Coron. y 27th Hen. III.) With his 
other lands he received those which his mother, the 
Countess of Cornwall, had held in dower. In this 
transaction the convent of Tewkesbury became his 
" fidei jussores" in 300 marcs to the Earl of Cornwall, 
and in return took a bond of indemnity from the 
young Earl. A little earlier, the 25th of March, the 
Abbot of Tewkesbury gave to Rely Morgan a yearly 
pension of two marcs until he should provide him with 
a better benefice, and Rely gave up his pension from 
Llandough, into which he had been inducted by Arch- 
deacon Maurice, his uncle. 



108 THE LAND OP MORGAN: 

2nd September 1243, the EarFs eldest son, Gilbert, 
was born at Christchurch in Hampshire. It was in 
this year that Hawise de Londres, heiress of the great 
Lordships of Kidwelly and Ogmore, married Patric de 
Chaworth, and laid the foundation of a valuable part 
of the afber Duchy of Lancaster. He fell in battle 
against the Welsh, at Caermarthen, 7th September 

1258. Also in this year J , Vicar of Dinas Powis, 

won his cause against Tewkesbury, and 1 5 marcs costs, 
and obtained the small tithes. Howel ap Meredith 
waa again in rebellion, and Kenfig was again burned. 

On the death, in 1240, of Bishop Elias, the custos 
claimed for the Earl the right, as chief lord, to take 
possession of such lands as were held of him by the 
feishop. Also, on the death of Archdeacon Maurice, 14th 
December 1242, the Custos claimed to appoint and put 
in RaJph of Newcastle, some Canons dissenting, some 
approvmg. Ralph held office until the King's proctor 
objected and nominated, and as the Earl had not as 
yet had seizin of his lands, it was thought better to 
submit. 29th March 1244, Thomas, the King's Arch- 
deacon, had a protection, and in July a royal licence 
allowed the Chapter to elect a Bishop. Meantime, 
Ra!ph, when Archdeacon, had appointed a Vicar to 
the chapel of St. John at Cardiff, against which Prior 
Ralph de Derby had appealed. The transactions con- 
nected with the recent appointment to the see of 
Llandaff led to a dispute between the King and the 
Earl ; and it appears from the Placita Coronce, that 
the Earl gave up his claim. R. de Clare came before 
the King and acknowledged that the " Baculum pas- 
torale" and patronage of the bishopric belonged of 
right to the King, but a day was named for him to 
show what it was he claimed. What he did claim 
was the custody of the lands held of him, and the 
collation to the prebends and the archdeaceniy. 
The new Bishop, probably soon after taking his seat, 
appeared before the King, and admitted, very untruly, 
that he held nothing from any other in his bishopric 



THE EARLS OF GLOUCESTER AND HERTFORD. 109 

save from the King. In 1245, Roger de Somery (of 
Dinas Powis) has a protection in Wales from the King. 

On Whit Sunday, 1244 (?), the Earl seems to have 
been knighted by the King ; and in March 1245, upon 
the aid for marrying the King's eldest daughter, he 
was assessed at £261 105. upon 261^ fees, besides 12^ 
fees in Kent, and £43 for 43 fees, his moiety of the 
Honour of Giffard. In 1245, the Earl was among 
those who made a bold attempt before the Council of 
Lyons to moderate Papal tyranny in England. In 
this year Henry summoned certain Welsh lords to do 
homage to him at Westminster, 30th April, and among 
them the son of Morgan Gam and Howel ap Meredith. 
The latter had been disseized of his lands by the Earl. 
5th February 1245, the Lord Herbert Fitz-Mathew 
met his death in a certain combe near Avan Castle, 
crushed by a mass of rock, which broke his neck. A 
writ of "diem clausit" was issued 7th February, but 
M. Paris lays the scene in North Wales. Probably it 
took place in the gorge of the Avan, a mile or so above 
the castle, which stood on the right bank of the river, 
close to the church of Aberavan. 1245-6, the bailiffs 
of Bristol were ordered to seize all the wool purchased 
by the Ghent merchants from the Abbot of Margam, 
and to hold it till further orders. 

About this time the great House of Mareschal came 
to an end. Earl Walter died at Goderich Castle, 24th 
November 1245, and his writ of "diem clausit" was 
issued 3rd December ; and 5th December his brother 
and successor Anselm, the youngest and the last, also 
died, and childless. He was buried at Tewkesbury. 
This death broke up the estate, and left the De Clares 
without a rival in South Wales. About the same time 
the Earl proposed to meet Guy de Lusignan, one of the 
new batch of the King's foreign relations, at a tourna- 
ment at Dunstable. The King, however, seems to 
have feared for his half-brother, and forbade the meet- 
ing, as he did a later one proposed at Northampton. 
The Earl granted Petersfield, Mapledurham, and some 



110 THE LAND OP MORGAN: 

other manors to his brother William, and it would 
seem introduced the Augustine Friars into England. 
The Welsh also occupied much of his attention. In 
1246, he aJlowed the Tewkesbury Monks a free water- 
flow, " liberam aqueductam", across his lands. 17th 
July 1247, Stephen Bawcen, an active soldier con- 
nected with Glamorgan, had an allowance of £25 yearly 
to sustain him in the King's service. 

In 1248, more of the King's half-brothers had ar- 
rived, and in the midst of the rising discontent the" 
Earl chose to take the part of the foreigners, at a 
tournament at Brackley, where he aided William de 
Valence to overthrow William de Odingselles, a Knight 
of Warwickshire. At Newbury he repeated this con- 
duct, and thereby much offended the Baronage. 21st 
July, the Earl had a son born, who was named Bevis. 
In this year he sued the Abbot of Tewkesbury for the 
advowsons of three churches. The Bishop of Llandaff 
absolved the Prior of Cardiff from a certain sentence 
by which he was bound for the Vicarage of Cardiff. 
The Vicar there had all the money coming into the 
Chapel of St. John, but had to pay out of it 20s. a year 
to the Prior for the liquor of a Priest at the Prior's 
table. At Llantwit, the Vicarage had all the " altala- 
gium", or altar dues, with the great and small tithes, 
except the tithe sheaf of hay, and the tithes of the 
Chapel of Lysworney. Also the Lord William de 
Cardiff impleaded the Abbot of Tewkesbury for the 
land of Lapull, and, in 1250, quit-claimed all his right 
therein to the Earl and the Abbot. Bichard, Prior of 
Cardiff, died, and Alan de Cornubia succeeded, who 
also died soon after, when Philip le Leche became 
Prior. Philip was probably a member of a family at 
one time holding land in Glamorgan, which probably 
ve name to the manor and fortified house of 
che Castle in Wenvoe. He died 15th December 
1261. The Abbot seems to have indulged in a cross 
action, for he impleaded De Cardiff concerning a 
chantry chapel at Walton-Cardiff and a right of way 




THE EABLS OF GLOUCESTER AND HERTFORD. 111 

across his meadow. In 33rd Henry III, Henry de 
Umfreville accounted ibr £45 for 9 fees held of the 
Honour of Gloucester, and Bichard de Kerdiff was 
quitted for 36s. Sd. 

In 1249, the Earl, with the Earl of Cornwall, went 
beyond sea, and visited the Pope at Lyons and St. 
Edmund^s of Pontigny. Their absence was brief, but 
included the Easter Jrarliament. At this time, 33rd 
Henry III, the Abbot of Margam accounted for five 
«marcs in the Pipe Roll for havmg an assize, and 12th 
June 1249, the chapter of Llandaff, under licence, 
elected John la War, Abbot of Margam, to the see 
of Llandaff. Nicholas, however, places this election 
26th July 1253, in which year he fixes the death 
of Bishop de Burgh. 

In 1250 the Earl officiated as hereditary seneschal 
and butler at the enthronisation of Boniface of Savoy 
as Archbishop, according to his tenure of Tonbridge, 
and in this year also he was invested with the military 
belt. He, again, had a dispute with Tewkesbury, on 
this occasion concerning rights of "fossa et furca", pit 
and gallows, claimed by the Abbot, who was allowed 
these powers in Wimborne and Cranborne, with a 
gallows at Cranborne, where he seems very conveniently 
to have found a subject for his newly admitted justice. 
This year the Earl visited Compostella, returning 1 5th 
July,and bestowed knighthood upon William de Wilton 
and Peter le Botiler at Harley. In 1250, 29th June, 
Abbot John resigned Margam, and was succeeded, 22nd 
September, by Thomas de Perthwaite. In 1251 thd 
Cranborne dispute was revived, the Earl denying the 
right claimed for the priory as well as the manor of 
Beveridge. In the claim, power of life and death seem 
oddly mixed up with common of pasture. It was said that 
the Abbot had usurped his power during the minority. 
The Earl asked an aid from his tenants to marry his 
daughter, but it appeared that no such aid had before 
been asked for, nor was he prepared to name the bride- 
groom. It appeared also that he had had a survey 



112 THE LAND OF MORGAN! 

made of his villenages, and had raised the dues. Roger 
Luvel, the Tewkesbury proctor at Rome, was appointed 
to act also for the Earl. In 1251-2 the Pipe Roll 
shows a grant of £40 from the King to Stephen Baw- 
cen. 34th Henry III the King issued a mandate, in 
the Close Rolls, to the Bailiffs of Kerdiff to permit one 
whom they had arrested for theft "in the Kings 
Court" to go forth without stopping any of the things 
stolen. 

In 1252, the Earl held his Easter at Tewkesbury,- 
and confirmed to the Chapter of Llandaff half the tithe 
of the Chapel of Lanternen (Llantarnam) 17th April. 
The King wished to marry the EarFs son Gilbert, a 
youth of great promise, to Alice, daughter of Guy 
Comte d^Angouldsme, his half-brother, offering with 
her a portion of 5,000 marcs. The Earl at first ac- 
cepted, and gave a bond for 10,000 marcs in case 
he broke off the match. He then changed his mind, 
and sent the Abbot of Tewkesbury and the Prior of 
Stokes to the King. Meantime he and his son went 
abroad, it being intended that the youth should win 
distinction in arms. It was about ttiis time that the 
Earl interfered to save the credit of his brother 
William, who had lost horse and arms in a joust. The 
Earl took his place, recovered the spoils, and brought 
his brother home with honour towards mid-Lent. He 
seems also to have visited Gascony, where Simon de 
Montforfs conduct was the subject of an inquiry. It 
is said to have been during this visit to the continent 
that the young Gilbert and William de Valence pro- 
voked contempt by their effeminacy, and got worsted 
at a tournament, a great contrast with the Earls 
action on behalf of his brother. At Christmas, 
1252, a daughter was born to the Earl at Llantrissant, 
probably within the castle. In this year also he caused 
Milo, his chamberlain, to be imprisoned at Usk. 

In 1253 the Earl, who was very expert in the use of 
arms, took part in a tournament abroad. About the 
llth July he returned to find that Henry, after a 



THE EARLS OF GLOUCESTER AND HERTFORD. 113 

stormy discussion, had confirmed the public charters 
with unusual solemnity, under promise of an aid. To 
this aid the Earl strongly objected, and, as was the 
custom with the nobles of that day, he spoke his mind 
to the King very freely , and retired from the presence 
in great anger. He then paid a short visrt to Ireland. 
In this year, the young Gilbert, born 2nd September 
1243, then therefore about ten years old, was con- 
tracted, while abroad, to Alice of Angoul6sme, the 
King's niece. Anselm {Hist. GeneaL, etc, iii, 78) de- 
scribes her as Alasi or Alise de Lezignan, daughter of 
Hugh le Brun, Comte de la Marche et d'Angoullsme, by 
Isabel, widow of King John of England, and daughter 
and heir of Aymar, Comte d' Angoulesme. The actual 
marriage seems to have taken place in 1257. Anselm 
says she was divorced in 1258, but this, it will be seen, 
is an error. Also in 1253 Robert Musgrose held the 
Honour of Gloucester, probablv as Sheriff or receiver. 

After renewed disputes with the barons concerning 
foreign service, the King, 7th September 1254, took 
the Earl with him to Bordeaux, where he was present 
when Henry conferred Gascony upon Prince Edward, 
and at the Princes marriage with Eleanor of Castile. 
Thence the Earl visited Paris, where were the Kings 
of France, England, and Navarre. He returned with 
the King and Queen, by New-Years Day 1255, to 
England, where public affairs had become critical. 
Henry was hopelessly indebted ; no money was to be 
had from his Parliament : even his brother and his son 
were obliged to protest against his proceedings, and de 
Montfort, now in England, was in litigation with the 
Crown about his wife s jointure. 

25th May 1255, a proposed tournament at Blythe 
was forbidden. lOth August, the Earl, fortified with 
credentials, went to Scotland with John Mansel, the 
celebrated pluralist, to relieve and, if possible, rescue 
Henry's sister, the Scottish Queen, then a prisoner in 
Edinburgh Castle. This he managed successfiilly, by 
a mixture of force and address, to the satisfaction of 



114 THE LAND OF MORGAK: 

both her husband and brother. It seems to have been 
in November of this vear that Eobert, Abbot of 
Tewkesbury, died, and the Earl confirmed the choice of 
Thomas as the new Abbot. The Earl had a dispute 
with the monks, whom he compelled to follow him to 
Fairfbrd for a settlement of their claims upon the tithe 
of Rendcombe. In this or the preceding year, the Earl 
was paying to the King 640 marcs, being two years' 
amount of a charge of £80 per annum on the Earl Mare- 
schaTs lands in Ireland for the dower of Eleanor the 
King's sister, and de Montfortfs wife. Her share was 
one-fifth of the income, which therefore must have been 
£400 per annum. Here the marc is taken at 5s. in- 
stead of 6s. 8d. as usual. It was also probably about 
this time that was drawn up the agreement mentioned 
by Nash (Worc, ii, 135) between Earl Richard and 
the Bishop of Worcester concerning Malvern Chase, in 
which the Abbot of Tewkesbury and Lord William de 
la Mare acted for the Earl, and among the witnesses 
to which appear Philip Basset and Stephen Bawcen. 
It seems that John, Earl of Moreton, in 1196, while 
Lord of Glamorgan, granted to the Bishop of Worcester 
licence to assart land in Malvern Forest, and Coun- 
tess Isabel confirmed the grant. The dispute, however, 
was by no means settled, and reappears in the reign of 
Edward I. 

12th June 1256, letters of credence were given to the 
Earl and Robert Walerand, with their suite, addressed 
to the Princes of Germany. They seem by the Patent 
Rolls to have left England 22nd June. Their mission 
was to watch at Frankfort the election of the King of 
the Romans, in the interest of the Earl of Cornwall, 
and to adminster bribes to and receive the fealty of 
the electors, preparatory to the crowning of Richard in 
the following December. Among the EarFs attendants 
were John and Robert Turberville and Adam WaJeys, 
all connected with Glamorgan. 29th June 1256, John 
de la Ware, Bishop of Llandaff, died; and on 30th 
July William de Radnor was elected Bishop. The 



THE EARLS OF GLOUCESTER AND HERTFORD. 115 

29th June was a remarkable day in Bishop de la Ware's 
life. On that day he resigned Margam, on that day 
was elected Bishop, and on that day he died. In the 
same year the Earl founded the house of the Black 
Friars, outside the west gate of Cardiff. 7th November, 
Bichard Siward of Talavan was dead, and his twice 
widowed wife, Ela, Countess of Warwick, had married 
Philip Basset. In this year Prince Edward received 
from John de Monmouth the Castle and Honour of 
Monmouth in fee. Henry also invested him with regal 
powers in Ireland, and the Earl of Gloucester did him 
nomage for his land there. 

In 1257, Henry seems also to have transferred the 
conduct of Welsh affairs to the Prince, who laid on a 
tax which excited Llewelyn ap David to take up arms. 
Griffith ap Rhys had died llth June 1256. The Earl, 
whom M. Paris calls a dear friend to the King, was in 
command of the royal forces in Glamorgan and Pem- 
broke, and generally in South Wales. It was in this 
somewhat unsuccessful campaign that Stephen Bawcen 
was slain. 24th July, Roger de Somery, summoned by 
the King to Chester, was afterwards directed to pro- 
ceed with all his forces to protect Glamorgan, where 
he held lands. The Close Boll, 42nd Henry III, men- 
tions the claim of Alex. de St. Severino for the price of 
45 dolia of wine, which the thieves of Glamorgan, West 
Wales, and Gower, had taken and conveyed to Devon- 
shire, to the damage of Earl Bichard, whose merchant 
he was. The Sheriffs of Devon and Somerset are to 
seize the goods, unless the Earl or the Sheriff of 
Glamorgan admits them to have been come by law- 

23rd July, either in this or the following year, the 
Earl was taken ill at Sonning, near Beading, and 
William Scotney, his seneschal and chief adviser, was 
charged with administering poison to him and his 
brother William, at a breakfast given by Prince 
Edward at Winchester. William died 23rd July at 
Betheresford, and was buried at Dareford (probably 

i 2 



116 THE LAND OF MORGAN : 

Dertford) Abbey, privately, instead of at Tewkesbury 
as he had wished, lest the news should reach and prove 
fatal to his brother. The Earl recovered, but lost his 
hair and his complexion ; his teeth and nails threatened 
to fell off, and he was much disfigured. Scotney was 
dragged asunder by horses at Winchester, or, by some 
accounts, hanged, 26th May 1259, and his quarters 
suspended from a gallows. The Earl, however, managed 
to Tbe present at Tewkesbury, 20th April 1258, when 
he obtained a procession, and gave the kiss of peace 
to all present. In this year, 6th September, the 
Welsh attacked Neath with 800 mail-clad horsemen, 
and 7,000 footmen. They failed to take the castle, 
but burned the town up to the gates, "et sic ad dse- 
mones redierunt". 

During these years the Earl seems to have been 
acting, though perhaps not very cordially, with the 
Kings party, but Heiuys conduct had gradually 
alienated from him all men, even those of moderate 
opinions. In 1258, matters drew to a head, but the 
Earl was still with the King, who, 22nd January, 
having heard that Llewelyn proposed to mariy his 
sister Margaret, directed the Earl to take her in charge 
and guard her safely. 8th March, he was at Court and 
witnessed a royal charter relating to St. Alban's. The 
opening Parliament of the year met in London, 9th 
April, and sat till the 5th May. Howel ap Meredith 
and the Welsh leaders had made an alliance with 
Scotland. The discussions were unsatisfactory, and 
the assembly was adjourned to the llth June at 
Oxford. In August, the Earl was directed by the 
King to inquire as to the large sums of money said to 
have been taken beyond sea by his half-brothers. 

The Parliament thus adjourned was the "Mad Parlia- 
ment". The Barons who had attended in London 
armed, came to Oxford under summons for a Welsh 
campaign, in full array for war. As in the time of 
John, a committee was appointed, and in the list the 
Earl of Gloucester appears with de Montfort on the 



THE EARLS OP GLOUCESTER AND HERTFORD. 117 

Barons , side, and in the subsequent very complex 
arrangements he took an active part, and was one of 
those by whom, 18th October 1258, the Kings adhe- 
sion to the Acts of .the Council was accepted, and who 
shared in the provisional government of the following 
year, and until the outbreak of the civil war. He also 
signed the letter to the Pope against the admission of 
the Poitevins. The Earl had charge this year of the 
manors of Aymer, Bishop of Winchester, then banished, 
and it was not until the 7th or 8th of Edward I that 
Earl Gilbert, his son, was called upon by a writ of 
"prsecipe" to surrender them. In 1258 the Abbot and 
Convent of Tewkesbury paid to Master Henry de 
Stratford 1 marcs upon a suit between him and Roger 
Boyfield, one of their monks, on an agreement concern- 
ing grain, entered into at Cardiff when Roger was Prior 
there. 

In 1259 Parliament met early in the vear, and the 
jealousy between the personal influence of de Montfort, 
and the hereditary influence of Earl Richard, led to a 
personal altercation between them. Earl Simon was 
impatient of the Earl of Gloucesters moderate and 
somewhat temporising policy, which was the more 
irritating that he was far too powerful to be set aide. 
"For you, my Lord Earl of Gloucester," said he, "the 
higher your position above us all, the more are you 
bound to carry these statutes into effect." Indeed, 
Gloucester's whole conduct up to that time shows that 
he was not inclined to press too strongly on the King, 
with whom he kept up some sort of personal terms. 
lOth May he was named to arrange for the marriage of 
Henry's daughter Beatrice with John, eldest son of the 
Duke of Britany; and 18th May the King had lent 
him certain artificers. 25th May, in this year or 1260, 
died James de Clare, probably a near kinsman. After 
the personal altercation with de Montfort, the Earl 
seems to have gone abroad, as special Ambassador to 
the King of France. Earl Simon, however, is joined 
with him in the patent, and a reconciliatipn was 



118 THE LAND OF MORGAN: 

patched up between them by the Earl of Hereford and 
others, no doubt in consequence of the King's procla- 
mation of the 28th of March. Gloucester sent Herwin, 
his seneschal, through his domains, to see that the 
statutes were obeyed, and it probably arose out of this 
that, 20th July, John de Cokefield was assigned to 
hear the "Querela transgressionis et injurise" by Earl 
Richard and his bailiffs m Gloucester, Suffolk, Essex, 
Cambridge, and Herts. In this and the preceding years 
the Patent Rolls show that the Earl had a licence to 
crenellate and fortify the Isle of Portland, and the 
towns and ports of Weymouth and Wyke. The cre- 
nellation probably related to "Bow and Arrow Castle", 
a curious fortress of Norman date, still standing on the 
east cliff of Portland. He had also a licence to build 
castles at Walden in Essex, and at Southwood in 
Suffolk. 

The summer of this year seems to have been occu- 
pied in a trial of strength between the two parties in 
the ruling council ; de Montfort, and with him Prince 
Edward, seeing the necessity for speedy action, and 
Gloucester being indisposed to move. In October, a 
remonstrance by the military tenants of the knightly 
class throughout England amrmed that the King had 
done his part, and lt was for the council no longer 
to neglect to do theirs. The results were the Pro- 
visions of Westminster, drawn up in this month. The 
part taken by the Earl of Gloucester is indicated by 
the inclusion of his name among the twelve Barons 
chosen to reform the State, as well as in the later 
council of fifteen. He was not one of the twelve 
parliamentary commissioners, but appears among the 
twenty-four of "the aid". 7th November, by an agree- 
ment with the Abbot of St. Edmund's, he concluded a 
law plea which had lasted nine years and five days, 
and in the same month he either preceded or accom- 
panied the King to France, to take part in the formal 
resignation of Normandy, and to settle some other 
differences between the Crowns; and during the short 



THE EARLS OF GLOUCESTER AND HERTFORD. 119 

remainder of his life his influence waa, on the whole, 
exerted in the King^s favour. He led the moderate 
party. 

In 1260 the state of affairs compelled Henry's return 
to England, and Earl Richard accompanied him. 30th 
April he met the Barons at St. PauFs, and was re- 
conciled to Prince Edward, who had urged on the 
obnoxious reforms. At the meeting, Gloucester and de 
Montfort again came to words, and besides their public 
diflerence, de Montfort refused to give up his wifes 
lands in Normandy, and so endangered the recent 
understanding with France. The Earl, however, to 
some extent, still acted with de Montfort, and by so 
doing probably hampered his proceedings far more than 
had he openly taken the King's part. 30th May, the 
Welsh attacked Builth Castle, while Roger Mortimer, 
its keeper, was attending the King in London. He 
was officially acquitted of all blame. The castle, though 
small, was strong, as its earthworks still show. In the 
summer Gloucester had a violent quarrel with Prince 
Edward, which caused great general anxiety, but, 22nd 
June, harmony was re-established by the mediation of 
Henry and his brother, the King of the Romans. An 
agreement then drawn up is referred to in the Calendar 
of the Patent Rolls for the year, but the document 
itself is not given. In this year Ralph Basset, pre- 
viously mentioned, died. About the same time, wnile 
the Earl was at Tewkesbury, a certain Jew fell into a 
jakes and refused to be taken out because the day was 
the Sabbath. On this the Earl, with a curious miscon- 
ception of his Christian duties, refiised to have him 
taken out on the following, being the Christian Sabbath, 
and left him to perish. The story was made the sub- 
ject of a quatrain : — 

" * Tende manus, Salomon, ut te de stercore tollam.' 
1 Sabbata nostra colo, de stercore surgere nolo. 
En ruit altra dies, nunc me de stercore tolles.' 
* Sabbata noatra colo, de stercore tollere nolo.' " 

In this year he attended with the King, under a safe- 



120 THE LAND OF MORGAN : 

conduct, the funeral of the French kings eldest son. 
In a letter from the Earl to the King, 1 5th June, pro- 
bably 1261, he states that his heaJth prevents his 
attendance on the King in London. He acknowledges 
a letter from the King about Prince Edwards affairs, 
about which the Earl has ordered J. Breton to meet 
him at Tewkesbury. 15th December, Philip de Leche, 
Prior of Cardiff, died, and 27th June following was suc- 
ceeded by William of Deerhurst. 

In 1262, 7th May, it appears from the rolls of Parlia- 
ment that the Earl granted to Chancellor Walter de 
Merton the manors ol Farley and Chessendon in aid of 
his new foundation, and by another document he in- 
formed Roger de Horn, his seneschal at Tonbridge, 
that he confirmed gifts to the same Walter by Roger 
at Malden, and by Philip Basset and Ela, Countess of 
Warwick, his wife; 8th July, the Earl recommends to 
the Chancellors favour Geoffrey de Aspall, his clerk, 
and John, the brother of the latter. 

In June the Earl was taken ill at the table of Peter 
of Savoy, the Queens uncle, and was thought to have 
been poisoned. He died 15th (or 22nd) July 1262, 
"ante statutum", at Eschemerfield in Kent, and was 
buried 28th July in the choir at Tewkesbury, on the 
right of his father, in a tomb which his widow encrusted 
with gold and precious stones, and which bore this 
somewhat superlative epitaph : — 

" Hic pudor Hippoliti, Paridis gena, sensua Ulissis, 
iEnese pietas, Hectoris ira jacet." 

The Bishops of Llandaff and Worcester, eight to 
twelve Abbots, and many Barons, Knights, and other 
considerable persons attended at the burying. His 
actual sword and spurs were suspended over his tomb, 
and to all praying for his souFs weal Archbishop Boni- 
face gave forty days' indulgence, and the Bishops of 
Chester, Llandaff, and Worcester twenty days' each, to 
which Worcester and Llandaff addea ten more to 
all repeating ten Paternosters and three Ave Marys 



THE EARLS OF GLOUCESTER AND HERTFORD. 121 

within the year. In the Annals of Tewkesbury he is 
recorded as " Vir nobilis et omni laude dignus." 

lst Edward I. In the Memoranda Roll Master John 
de Sethwille and John de Bruis (Braose) are named as 
executors of the Earl's will, but those given in the 
Rolls of Parliament are Hugh Bigod and others. The 
debts were considerable, both to the King and to pri- 
vate persons. One debt to the merchants was 480 
marcs; and another to Hugh de Gundeville, 300 marcs. 
7th Edward I, Sethwille received £80. 12th Edward I, ' 
the account was still unsettled, both with the Ex- 
chequer and the general debtors and creditors. 
£127 8s. 4d. was allowed for the farm of the Barton 
of Bristol for eight to ten years. This possession, 
therefore, severed from the castle, was still a part of 
the estate. 

47th Henry III, Countess Maud had an assignation 
of dower which included Bedwin and Winchcombe, 
and the castles and manors of Usk, Trillech, and Clare. 
52nd Henry III, she purchased the manor of Long 
Stratton in Norfolk. Their children were — 1, Gilbert; 
2, Thomas, a man of some mark in his day. He was 
governor of St. Briavers Castle in April, 49th 
Henry III, and custos of the royal forest in Essex, and 
for his conduct at Lewes made governor of Colchester 
Castle. 51st Henry III, he went with Prince Edward 
to Palestine, and brought home four Saracen prisoners. 
55th Henry III, or lst Edward I, he was governor of 
London, and soon afterwards went to Ireland with a 
grant of Thomond and a roving commission to conquer 
all he could. Soon after his landing he was himself 
conquered by the charms of Julian, third daughter of 
Maurice, son of Maurice Fitz-Gerald, by Emmeline, 
daughter and heir of Sir Stephen Longesp^e, a natura! 
son of Henry II and Rosamond Clifford. With her 
he had Youghal, where the provost and borough 
adopted his arms, the one sealing with de Clare im- 
paling Fitz-Gerald with a label, both dimidiated; the 
other with de Clare and Fitz-Gerald, each with a label 



122 THE LAND OF 

and each upon a heater-shaped shielcL He huilt Bun- 
ratty Castle. For the rest, his career was unfortunate ; 
he was thrice defeated, and, finally , killed by the Irish in 
1285. His wife was aiive in 1321. They left Lssue John, 
Gilbert, Richard, and Thomas. Richard, the third son 
was probably the Richard de Clare who was summoned 
to Parliament 26th October 1309. He left issue 
Thomas de Clare, who died childless, 14th Edward II, 
1320-21, leaving his fathers sisters his heire. He was 
probably the raale heir of the House of Clare, though 
he does not seein to have claimed the Honours. Pro- 
bably the settlement made by the penultimate Earl 
on his marriage with Princess Joan precluded him 
from the estate. He is not mentioned by Dugdale. 

3. Bevis, Benedict, or Bogo, born llth or 2ist July 
1248, was a canon of York. 4. Isabel, born May 
1 240, said by Anselm to have been a nun at Barking, 
but who married at Lyons, 13th June 1257, the Mar- 
quis di Ponte Ferrato, and was escorted thither by a 
Tewkesbury monk. 5. Margaret, born at Llantrissant, 
Christmas 1250. She married Edmimd, a younger 
son of Richard Earl of Cornwall, but his eldest by 
Saunchia of Provence. He was regent during Edwards 
absence in Palestine. She was divorced, childless, 22nd 
Edward I, and compelled by the Bishop of Winchester 
" vitam vivere caelibem." 6. Roesia, born 17th October 
1252, married Roger Mowbray. 54th Henry III, 
Roger Estraneus and Matilda his wife, and Matilda 
de Mowbray, are bound to Matilda Countess of Glou- 
cester in a fine if Roger, son and heir of Roger de Mow- 
bray, does not marry Roesia, daughter of the Countess. 
The witnesses are Gilbert de Clare Earl of Gloucester 
and Hertford, Thomas de Clare, Henry de Sully, Pau- 
linus de Kerdiff, Thomas de Bellocampo, Walter de 

la , Hy. de Umfiavile, knights, John, Abbot of 

Tintern. The marriage took place in 1270. 7. Eglan- 
tine, born 1257, died an infant, fifteen weeks old, and 
was buried at Tewkesbury. Another Bogo, well 
known in the reign of Edward I, seems to have been 
a cousin. 



THE EARLS OF GLOUCESTER AND HERTFORD. 123 

On the Earl's death, Nicholas Berkeley, and after- 
ward Petronel de la Mare, took charge of the Honour. 
The jurors on his inquisition were directed to make 
return " de maneriis quse idem comes nomine custodise 
et firmse tenuit die obitus suae." In Glamorgan he so 
held only Marcross, 46th Henry III. 

Earl Kichard died at a very critical period in his 
own career and in the histoiy of his country. His 
rank and alliances, his immense property, and his 
power in the Welsh Marches made him a most impor- 
tant person, second only to King Henry and his 
brother the King of the Romans. The moderation 
of his character in a reign continually verging upon 
civil war placed him in opposition, sometimes to one 
party, sometimes to the other, and probably neither 
Henry nor Prince Edward, nor Simon de Montfort 
thought him to be relied upon. He died just when 
it would have been absolutely necessary to take a 
decided part, and had he lived, that part would pro- 
bably have been with the King. He was personally 
brave, and experienced in the use of arms and in 
warfare. 

The lordship of Glamorgan fell into the King's 
hands, the young Earl being a minor. Humphrey de 
Bohun at once took charge, and reported to the King, 
who acknowledged his letter, and committed to him, 
18th July, the castles of Usk, Tregrue (?), Newburg, 
Kaerdiff, Lantrissan, Langenyth, Neth, and all other 
fortalices and their appurtenances in Wales. Philip 
Basset the Justiciar is to move John de Breos 
to deliver up Lantrissant Castle to ,de Bohun. lst 
February 1263, 100 marcs are allowed to store the 
castles ; Walter de Sully, sheriff, is, we are told, 
" bonus homo et potens in provincia". De Bohun 
reported to the Chancellor that all was then quiet, 
and that he had equipped the castles. 4th August 
1263, the King directed Roger de Clifford to assist 
Humphrey. Inquiry is to be made into the late Earls 
tenure of the manor of Buckingham, which William 



124 THE LAND OF MORGAN I 

de Breos alleged that his hrother John had leased 
fraudulently. Bohun is to employ Robert de Meisy, 
Trahilo ap Hoel, and Ralph de Auste to make an 
extent or survey of the lordship, and Walter and 
Henry de Sully are to have quittance concerning a 
summons in Devon ; and whereas John de Sully had 
been enfeoffed by the Earl of a carucate of land in 

and one in Orchiston, he is to receive them from 

the escheator, 7th December. The extent was also 
directed of the lands in Gloucester, Essex, and Suffolk. 
The King announced the Earls death to Philip Basset 
the justiciary and to Walter de Merton the Chancellor, 
and approved their doings at Amiens. 

It appeared that William le Sor held of the "Honour 
of Tewkesbury" 13 fees. Also, 18th February, Griffin 
de Bedwas, who was detained in the Kings prison at 
Cardiff, was to be delivered by the Sheriff to M. Bezile, 
constable of Gloucester Castle. 

De Bohun did not long act as custos. On account of 
debility he is to deliver up his charge to Walter de 
Sully; 1 February 1266, he was superseded in the 
command of the army in Wales by John de Grey, 
and Henry wrote to Llewelyn to inform him of the ap- 
pointment. 15th February 1263, the King informed 
the barons, knights, and loyal men of Glamorgan that 
Walter de Sully had charge of the lands and castles 
of the late Earl of Gloucester, which had been held 
by Humphrey de Bohun ; and, 1 5th June, a royal letter 
to SuUy informs him that he was to be in charge for 
three weeks or a month, in fact until the Earl had 
seLzin. It appeared that William de Powyk had been 
constituted to take depositions in a dispute between 
the prior of Ewenny and the Abbot of Margam, con- 
cerning tenements in Llanmeuthin. Also the Sheriff 
of Cardiff was directed to act as to certain crops be- 
longing to the Abbot of St. Peter's, Gloucester, at 
Tregof and Lancarvan, seized on account of a vacancy 
in that office. The Archbishop of Canterbury had 
placed his seneschal in charge of Tonbridge Castle, 



THE EARLS OF GLOUCESTEB AND HERTFORD. 125 

whence he is ordered to transmit six Welsh prisoners 
to the constable of Bochester Castle. They were 
Thurk (?), Howel ap Meulyn, Meuth ap Leulyn, Tudor 
Howel, Howel ap Ivor (?) and Meureth. 

Gilbert de Clare, surnamed " the Red", "quia rufus 
erat et pulcher aspectu", 7th Earl of Gloucester and 
7th of Hertford, and 9th Earl of Clare, succeeded in 
July 1262, 46th Henry III, being then nineteen years 
of age, not as yet girded with the sword of knighthood, 
and married to Alice de la Marche or d^Angoulesme, 
by whom he had one child, Isabel, born lOth March 
1262. 

27th June, the Abbot of Tewkesbury appointed 
William de Deerhurst Prior of CardifF. The minority 
was a short one, for, 3rd August, the young Earl did 
homage, and had livery of the castles of Cardiff, New- 
burgh (Newport), and Llantrissant, and of the Welsh 
lordship, of which Hereford was to give seizin ; which 
cost the Earl £1000. The Hundreds of Wathelston 
and Littelfeld, held by the Earl, under the See of 
Canterbury, but appendant to Tonbridge, were restored 
to him, on his coming of age, by the Archbishop. At 
the same time he entered upon his lands in England 
and Ireland, and aJso succeeded to the wardship of 
the lands of Peter of Savoy, and of Pembroke Castle, 
and of the lands of William de Valence in Pembroke : 
waxdships, unlike other personal property, being herita- 
ble. Just before this, 8th February 1263, the Bishop 
of Llandaff was informed that when he came to Lon- 
don he might lodge in the close of the King J s Hermi- 
tage at Charing Cross, without impediment from the 
royal officers. 

The young Earl, it is recorded by Wykes, was im- 

Eetuous and much influenced by his mother, who led 
im to join the opposition party. "Blanditiis allectum, 
qui prius Regi devotus extiterat, resilire coegit, et de 
fideli reddidit infidelem." He was, however, probably 
influenced also by the example of his father, who, 
though a moderate, was never a blind, supporter of the 



126 THE LAND OF MORGAN . 

King. It is moreover said that the Earl had a special 
grievance against Prince Edward, whose attentions to 
his wife were unpleasant to him. From whatever 
cause, he at once, as early as February 1263, threw 
himself into the partv of de Montfort, at that time 
engaged in giving effect to the provisions of Oxford, 
by which aliens were excluded from the government 
of the royal castles, and the central administration of 
justice, and an equitable collection of the revenue were 
provided for. In March he refused to include Prince 
Edward in his oath of allegiance, and, with de Mont- 
fort, took up arms. The King fled to the Tower, and 
the Prince took post at Windsor, and towards the 
close of the year it was decided, against the Earls 
wish, to refer the matters in dispute to the French 
King. Henry seized the Earls castles of Kingston and 
Tonbridge, but allowed the Countess, who was in the 
latter, to go free. 

The French award was unfavourable to the barons, 
who, at the Oxford Parliament in March 1264, refused 
to accept it. 12th May, Henry addressed a defiance 
to de Montfort and the Earl of Gloucester, as chiefs 
of the Barons' party, and in the military summonses 
to Worcester their adherents were omitted. On the 
14th, the rival forces met at Lewes, and the appeal 
to arms, long threatened, actually occurred. The Earl 
accepted knighthood on the battle field from de Mont- 
fort, and, young and unskilled as he was, was never- 
theless recognized as, equally with de Montfort, a 
leader of the party, and to him was allotted the com- 
mand of the second line. In the battle he distin- 
guished himself by personal valour, and seems to have 
received the Kings sword. He used his power to 
take a grant, 20th June, of the confiscated estates of 
Earl Warenne, excepting Rygate and Lewes Castles ; 
and one of the articles of the " Mise of Lewes" pro- 
vides especially for his indemnity and that of de Mont- 
fort. Tne Earl, Earl Simon, and the Bishop of Chi- 
chester were the three electors who were to nominate 



THE EARLS OF GLOUCESTER AND HERTFORD. 127 

the new council of nine persons of those who were 
"most faithful, prudent, and most studious for the 
public weal", and who were to be the real governors 
of the kingdom. Gloucester was also one of the five 
Earls summoned to the " Great Parliament" at West- 
minster, 20th January 1265. 

Victory speedily generated discontent between the 
victors, and especially between the two Earls* Glou- 
cester seems to have claimed from Earl Simon the 
custody of his own prisoners, and especially of the Earl of 
Cornwall, and to have been refiised. He also demanded 
unsuccessfully the Castle of Bristol, to which he had 
hereditaryclaims,and which was occupied byEarl Simon ; 
and further, a tournament at which he proposed to 
take part against de Montfort's sons, was forbidden 
by their father. These causes, or some of them ,may have 
precipitated the rupture, but it was improbable that 
the two Earls could long have continued in accord. 
De Montfort was a foreigner by birth and education, a 
much older man than Gloucester, and as far above 
him in personal weight as he was below him in here- 
ditary position and territorial wealth. Each naturally 
looked upon the other with a jealous eye. Earl Gilbert, 
though without experience, stood at the head of the 
English baronage, and it was evident that however 
much circumstances might force him to oppose Henry, 
he did not wish permanently to overthrow the royal 
power. A few years later Wikes describes him as 
" Summae et singularis inter regni Magnates nobili- 
tatis, et praeeminentisB, et incomparabilis post Regem 
potentiaB' . De Montfort, whose views were broader 
and probably far more patriotic than those of the Earl, 
nevertheless desired personal aggrandisement. From 
the King he had long sought an augmentation of his 
wife's jointure, which included a third of the Mareschal 
estates, and he wished to obtain from the Prince the 
Earldom of Chester in exchange for that of Leicester, 
Chester being not only a richer, but, from its position 
on the Marches, a far more powerful earldom; and to 



128 THE LAND OF MORGAN: 

bring about this change he took advantage of his pos- 
session of the Princes person. He was also bent upon 
strengthening his own power in the west, at the ex- 
pense of that of Gloucester, holding Bristol, and giving 
encouragement to the South Welsh Princes, hereditary 
foes to the Lords of Glamorgan. Moreover, his son, 
the younger Simon, was pretender to the hand of 
Isabel, heiress of the great Earldom of Devon, and 
holding in dower a third of that of Albemarle. After 
Lewes, he had actually pursued her with an armed force, 
and forced her to take refuge under the covert protec- 
tion of the Earl of Gloucester, her kinsman. These 
sources of distrust led Gloucester at once to take up 
the interests of the King, who would thus become 
indebted to him for his kingdom. 

His change of action was rapid and complete. In 
April 1265, he opened a communication, through his 
brother Thomas, with Roger Mortimer, and came to a 
personal altercation with de Montfort, casting up 
against him his foreign birth, "manifeste ridiculum est 
quod hic alienigena totius regni dominium sibi prsesumit 
subjugare". De Montfort, with the King and Prince 
in his train, went to Hereford, while de Clare, in con- 
junction with John Giffard, a great soldier and a man 
of much personal influence in South Wales, collected a 
considerable force in the Forest of Dene. In May, an 
arbitration was agreed to, probably to gain time, for in 
that month, by Thomas de Clare's agency, the Prince 
effected his escape from the meads of Hereford, and 
rode to Wigmore, and thence to Ludlow, where he was 
joined by Gloucester, on the condition that he should 
swear to observe "the ancient and approved laws of 
the realm". De Montfort/s rejoinder was the destruc- 
tion of the Castle of Monmouth, whence he marched 
upon Newport, holding both banks of the Usk. He 
was followed by Prince Edward from the East, on 
which he broke down Newport Bridge, and retired 
upon Glamorgan, which he laid waste in combination 
with Llewelyn. Meantime de Clare regained Bristol, 



THE EARLS OF GLOUCESTER AND HERTFORD. 129 

and the Prince fell back upon the Severn at Gloucester. 
While there, he learned that the younger de Montfort 
was on his way from !Pevensey towards Kenilworth. 
With a decision that indicated the future leader, the 
Prince by a rapid march intercepted de Montfort near 
Kenilworth, routed him, 16th July, and thence turning 
back upon Worcester, held that city and broke down 
the bridge, lst August, and on the 4th, encountered 
and overthrew Earl Simon at Evesham. 

In the battle, de Clare, as at Lewes, led the second 
line, but now on the Kings behalf. His reward was a 
pardon, 49th Hen. III, for his brother Thomas, himself, 
and his adherents, and the custos-ship of Abergavenny 
during the nonage of Maud, the child wife of the Earl 
of Hereford. He again did homage for his lands ; and 
the King remitted £900 of fine as yet unpaid upon 
his livery, on the ground of his expenses in the royal 
cause. 

De Montfortfs death left Gloucester without a rival, 
and much tempted him to take the lead on the popular 
side. He does not seem to have aided at the siege of 
Kenilworth ; and though one of those elected to sit as 
an arbitrator upon the terms of the Ban, in October 
1266, he disapproved of, and opposed them. Early in 
that year William de Braose, Canon of Llandaff, was 
elected Bishop ; and Griffith ap Rhys, taken prisoner, 
was committed to Cardiff Castle, and thence, m 1267, 
sent to Kilkenny for greater security. Towards the 
close of 1266 Gloucester, himself discontented, seems 
to have met the "disinherited" party in the Isle of 
Ely, and thence, 8th April 1267, to have led them to 
London, where they occupied the city, and summoned 
the Legate to surrender the Tower. They met publicly 
at St. Paul's, but, meantime, Henry had advanced from 
Windsor. and encamped at Stratford, whence, 5th May, 
he also entered London. On this, Gloucester, through 
his brother Thomas, again made terms, and in June 
he and his followers were admitted to the benefits of 
the Ban, and a safe-conduct issued in favour of Gilbert 

K 



130 THE LAND OF MORGAN : 

de Clare, his household, and all who call themselves 
"exheredatos". This was to enable them to meet Henry 
at Stratford. 

The Parliament at Marlborough, in November, con- 
ceded almost all the points in dispute; and although 
the Earl remained at variance with Mortimer and the 
royal party, and declined an invitation to the Kings 
peat banquet, he gave no further trouble, and the 

ing waived the conditions proposed by the Legate, 
that the Earl should give either his daughter or his 
Castle of Tonbridge, for three years, as a hostage for 
his conduct. Finally, at Midsummer 1268, the Earl 
assumed the cross, withPrince Edward,at Northampton, 
though this promise was not fiilfilled by himself. His 
brother Thomas, however, accompanied the Prince. 

The EarFs amity was no doubt largely influenced by 
the King s action in South Wales. As early as 26th 
April 1266, the King had questioned the correctness of 
the Earls scutages, and had directed William de 
Powyk and the Abbot of Tintern to make a new 
survey; and 30th April, Humphrey, Earl of Hereford, 
w r as ordered to take charge, but the issues were to be 
paid over to Matilda, Countess of Gloucester, and Gilbert 
de Clare ; and the Countess was to surrender Usk Castle. 
5th May, Earl Humphrey was informed that the King 
will accommodate his niece, the wife of Gilbert de 
Clare, with the use of Usk Castle, which had belonged 
to Richard de Cardiff ; Lawrence de Hameldon appears 
as Earl Gilbert/s clerk. lst August, the Earl had a 
grant of the manor of Lydgate, and the seneschalship 
of Bury Abbey, taken from Henry de Hastings, the 
Kings enemy. 20th August, he was also to have the 
lands of all the rebel Welsh that he could conquer. 

In 1267, Henry laboured hard to give peace to South 
Wales; 14th March, Roger de Somery and Hugh de 
Turberville, Glamorgan Barons, were commissioned to 
inquire into the causes of quarrel between Llewelyn ap 
Griffith and the Earl of Gloucester. Llewelyns com- 
plaint was that the Earl refused to restore the lands of 



THE EARLS OF GLOUCESTER AND HERTFORD. 131 

his subjects, according to the terms agreed upon. The 
result was a compromise, agreed to at Michaelmas 
1268. The violence complained of had chiefly lain in 
the districts of Senghenydd, Glyn-Rhondda, and Miscin, 
tracts of country too strong and too near Cardiff to be 
left in native hands. The compromise lasted but a 
short time, and the final result was the building of the 
great Castle of Caerphilly. The Earl was still bent 
upon the recovery of Bristol; and, 31st October 1268, 
he addressed the King, stating thafc he proposed, 
with Prince Edward's consent, to have his right to 
the castle and borough tried in course of law, and 
should he recover it, he promises to give due ex- 
change. The suit seems to have been deferred till 
1276, when, in the presence of the Archbishop of 
Canterbury and others, the castle and borough were 
adjudged to the King. 

Ayear later, 15th October 1269, the Earl had a safe- 
conduct to come to meet the King, Prince Edward, and 
Llewelyn, of which he does not seem to have availed 
himself ; nor did he attend the Parliament then held. 
He fpund it very inconvenient to accompany the Prince 
to the Holy Land, and he probably feared compulsion. 
The reason he assigned, whether true or false, was cer- 
tainly sufficient. "At Comes causatus est terris suis, 
quae WallisB continguntur, et quse tunc temporis a 
Wallensibus fortiter fuerunt impugnatae, depopulatis 
provinciis, et castris solo terrarum complanatis, peri- 
culum imminere, si, vacuatis regni limitibus, ipsas . . . 
expositas relinqueret indefensas." The King of the 
Romans seems to have mediated, and at Pentecost 
1270, Henry allowed the repayment of the EarFs 
expenses at Evesham, and again gave him livery of his 
lands and castles. In return, he undertook to follow 
the Prince, who had left England in July, unless pre- 
vented by illness, war, or other sufficient causes. This 
he did not do, but as he gave no other cause of offence, 
he and Henry lived on good terms for the rest of the 
reign. 

K 2 



132 THE LAND OF MORGAN : 

The King of the Romans died 2nd April 1272, and 
that year, about six weeks before Henry^s death, Earl 
Gilbert married his sister Margaret to Edmund, 
Richard's eldest surviving son, on which occasion, on 
St. Edmund's Day, 20th November, Edmund was 
knighted and recognised as Earl of Cornwall ; and on 
St. Nicholas' Day following, 6th December, he gave a 
wedding feast of great splendour at Wallingford. Upon 
Henrys death Earl Gilbert was one of those whose 
names, 23rd November 1272, are appended to the 
letter informing Prince Edward of that event, and the 
proclamation of the new KLng was signed by the Arch- 
bishop of York, Earl Gilbert, and Edmund (Earl of 
Cornwall). He was also present at the proclamation at 
the New Temple, and on the new King's arrival in 
England he entertained him with great magnificence at 
Tonbridge Castle. 

The state of Glamorgan during the reign of Henry 
III was such as to cause great anxiety to its lord, its 
ecclesiastical magnates, its barons and knights, and its 
inhabitants generally, whether Welsh or English. The 
land was wasted, the houses burned, the cattle driven 
off, the borough towns and religious houses sorely 
bested. The clergy were in arrears with their tithes, 
the bishops and monastic bodies with their dues, and 
the landlords of all ranks with their rents and the pro- 
duce of their demesnes. Treaties and truces between 
the English and the Welsh were of no avail. Each 
party broke them at pleasure. The Kings writ did not 
run in the Marches, and would have been but little re- 
spected even if it had had legal sanction ; and the chief 
lords, though strong enough to be a thorn in the King's 
side, were often unable to preserve peace. It is true that 
the lower or seaboard division of the lordship, including 
the vale of Glamorgan, was studded with castles. 
Cardiff, Neath, and Swansea, and perhaps the Tower 
of Lwchwr, were strong enough to defend the lower 
parts of the Taff, the Nedd, the Tawe, and the Lwchwr 
rivers, but the other castles and strong houses, Kenfig, 



THE EARLS OF GLOUCESTER AND HERTFORD. 133 

Llantrissant, Ogmore, Coyty, Dunraven, TaJavan, Llan- 
blethian, Bonvilleston, Fonmon, Penmark, Sully, Barry, 
Wenvoe, Flimston, and Dinas Powis, and a score of 
others, were intended to guard private domains, and 
did not command the main passes of the district. 
Cardiff and Neath were regularly walled, and Kenfig 
fenced in, probably with a palisade. Cowbridge also 
was walled. The south gate and wall still remain, and 
a charter of the 3rd Henry VII refers to a turret or 
tower and to the north wall, as then standing. These 
defences, however, were for the security of the town 
only. What was wanted was some central stronghold 
of the first class, large enough to contain a numerous 
garrison, strong enough to resist a siege, and so placed 
as to stand in the way of any advance of the Welsh in 
force into England, and, should they so advance, to cut 
off their retreat. Earl Gilbert determined to supply 
this want in a manner worthy of his rank and wealth 
as chief of the Marcher Lords, and suitable to the im- 
portance^of the territory which it was his duty to pro- 
tect. The place fixed upon for his fortress was the 
centre of a vast and, in part, marshy basin upon the 
Welsh bank of the Rhymny, and therefore between 
the lordships of Gwent and Morgannwg, within the 
hill district, and not above six miles from Cardiff. This 
lay in the route by which the Welsh invaders usually 
advanced upon and retired from Gwent, and to close it 
would close the whole line of the Rhymny, from the 
Brecon mountains to the sea, Cardiff blocking the sea- 
ward plain, and Brecknock and Builth, the valley of 
the Usk, north of the mountains. The proposed castle 
was wholly new. A knoll of ground rising out of the 
morass was scarped and revetted and crowned with a 
double belt of walls and towers, while, as at Kenilworth 
and Leeds, an insignificant brook was barred by a 
strong and well-defended dam, and the depression about 
the castle converted into a deep and broad lake. Such 
was the origin and such the general disposition of the 
Castle of Caerphilly, the most complete example in 



134 THE LAND OF MORGAN : 

Britain of the concentric style of fortress, and in area 
and accommodation second only to Windsor. Unfor- 
tunately for its historic celebrity, the precautions which 
led to its construction were, within a very few years, 
rendered useless by the complete conquest of the Prin- 
cipality, though in that respect it only shared the 
fate of Conway, Caernarvon, Beaumaris, Harlech, and 
Bere. 

Earl Gilbert certainly did not take up the defence of 
his territory by halves. Besides Caerphilly, the small 
but strong fortress of Castell Coch was constructed to 
guard the lowest pass of the Taff ; and upon the high 
ground near one head of the same river, near the old 
Roman way from Newport to Brecon, was constructed, 
a few years later, Morlais, a castle small in area but 
strong, and guarded by a ditch quarried with immense 
labour out of the limestone rock. The chain was com- 
pleted by the construction of a circular tower, now de- 
stroyed, at Whitchurch, in the plain between Castell 
Coch and Cardiff. The age of Castell Coch can be de- 
termined only by reference to its architectural pecu- 
liarities, which, however, are sufficiently marked. 
Enough remained of Whitchurch a score of years ago 
to declare its date ; but it is also mentioned in the 
reign of Edward II, when Llewelyn ap Griffith, repre- 
sentative of the celebrated Ivor Bach, and ancestor of 
the Lewises of the Van and Llanishen, indigenous in 
those parts, claimed and was allowed the " forcelettum" 
which stood upon his ground. Morlais, the site of 
which had been wrested from the same Llewelyn, was 
the subject of quarrel between the Lords of Brecknock 
and Glamorgan in the reign of Edward I, the full par- 
ticulars of which are recorded upon the Rolls of Parlia- 
ment. Caerphilly was certainly built in the closing 
years of the reign of Henry III, though largely altered 
and improved half a century later. Much of it bears 
evidence of having been built in haste, though the 
interior and more ornate parts are in good taste and of 
excellent workmanship. In a military point of view it 
is a very remarkable work. 



THE EARLS OF GLOUCESTER AND HERTFORD. 135 

Caerphilly had been commenced, and was defensible 
as early as 1270, for it was then attacked by Llewelyn, 
and in it were the King's Commissioners, the Bishops 
of Lichfield and Worcester. A truce was agreed 
to, the Castle to be held by the Bishops till the 
quindene (15th day after) of Midsummer, and there 
was to be a final settlement of the matter at the 
Fords of Montgomery, at the quindene of the fol- 
lowing Easter. The King no doubt saw the im- 
portance of the castle to the realm at large, for, in 
Council, 2nd February 1271, in London, de Clare had 
leave to enditch it. 

Llewelyn's attack is the subject of a letter firom the 
Archbishop of York in London, dated 3rd November 
1271, to Mag r R. de Nedham, his proctor at Rome. It 
appeared that Prince Edward, on leaving England, had 
constituted the Archbishop, the King of the Romans, 
Philip Basset, R. de Mortimer, and R. Burnel, his 
deputies, and their attention was engaged upon affairs 
in South Wales. "Llewelyn," the Primate says, "had 
come down upon Caerphilly, and laid siege to it with a 
considerable force. The Earl of Gloucester is calling 
for aid which ought not to be withheld. But the King 
is ill, and the scarcity of the past year has left them 
without funds." He relates this that the Cardinals may 
be content with less valuable presents than might have 
been expected. The favour of the new Pope was, how- 
ever, to be obtained by a handsome sum. 

Beneath the strong rule of Edward I, the part played 
by the Earl of Gloucester became politically insignifi- 
cant, and on the subjugation of Wales in 1282, one 
source both of his power and of his weakness was ex- 
tinguished. Henceforward, the most important events 
in his life were connected with his own estates. In 
1276, Earl Gilbert joined in the decree declaring 
Llewelyn guilty of contumacy ; and, at the close of the 
year, he was summoned to the Welsh expedition. In 
this year also, Morgan of Avan, the son of Morgan 
Gam, and the principal Welshman holding of the Earl, 



136 THE LAND OF MORGAN: 

married the daughter and heiress of Walter de Sully , a 
knight of Norman descent, and united his estate to 
Avan. He died 6th August 1288. 

Soon afterwards, the dispute respecting Malvern 
Chase, settled about 1255, was reopened, the Earl 
claiming right of chase on Malvern Hill, in Colwall 
and Estun, against the Bishop of Worcester, who 
gained the cause, which, however, reappeared a few 
years later. The Bishop of Hereford, who had also 
certain claims, came to an agreement with the EarL 
In 1276, the Earl made a final effort to recover the 
Castle and Borough of Bristol, as the heir of William, 
Earl of Gloucester. The cause seems to have been 
fairly tried by the magnates of the realm, and judg- 
ment went against him, on the ground that the Crown 
had held them during the last four reigns. Also, in 
1276, the Earl's Bailiff of Caerleon, and his Sheriff of 
Glamorgan, are ordered by the King not to allow the 
tenants to supply provisions to the Welsh rebels. 

In December 1277, the Earl was impleaded by cer- 
tain merchants for debts incurred in aid of the Welsh 
war, in consideration of which a delay was allowed 
him. About the same time arose a dispute with the 
Bishop of Winchester about the Church of Portland, 
and John Pickard and Maurice de Lambeth represented 
the Earl. In March 1278, he seems to have escorted 
Alexander, King of Scots, to London, under a safe- 
conduct from Eaward, and at Michaelmas he was pre- 
sent at the homage rendered by the Scottish King. 

lOth January 1279, Bishop Braose of Llandaff was 
summoned before the Exchequer for sums due on the 
wardship of a certain youth which he had obtained in 
satisfaction for 100 marcs paid by him on behalf of 
Ralph Cross, the youth's father; a kind of security 
then common. About this time Matilda, Countess of 
Gloucester, and Earl Gilbert, her son, were called to 
deliver to Roger Mortimer and Matilda his wife, cer- 
tain lands and rents in Usk, which had been assigned 
to the latter lady. They were cousins. Gilbert, 5th 



THE EABLS OF GLOUCESTER AND HERTFORD. 137 

Earl of Gloucester, married Isabel Mareschal, and Eva, 
her sister and co-heir, married Wm. de Braose. Isabels 
son married Matilda de Lacy, and Usk was settled on 
her son Gilbert, 7th Earl. Eva de Braose also had a 
daughter, Matilda, who married Roger Mortimer. The 
dispute was arranged by the transfer of Aure Manor to 
Mortimer. 9th June 1279, Earl Gilbert did homage to 
Archbishop Peckham, for Tonbridge. This took place 
at Lymynge in the presence of Sir John, son of Arnulph 
de Bosco, Richard de Teyden, Master Thos. de Pulesdon, 
and Bichard de Londres, of the Earl's household. It 
appears from an entry in the Pipe Roll of 9th Edward I, 
that when the Earl undertook to accompany Prince 
Edward to Palestine he received 1,000 marcs, which 
sum he was then repaying. In 1280, the Earl founded 
the Grey Friary in Crockherbton, of which a fragment, 
though of later date, still remains. 

About this time, also, the Earl's marcher rights were 
questioned by one of the de Braose family who had 
been stopped with violence by Robert de Veal, the 
Earl's Bailiff, on the public highway. He proceeded 
against de Clare, who was summoned before the Kings 
Court at Michaelmas 1281. The Earl challenged the 
jurisdiction, and when his rights were made the subject 
of a "quo warranto" he declined to reply until he had 
consulted with his brother peers and marchers. 24th 
May 1282, he was summoned for the Welsh war, and 
took part in Edward's great and final effort, which 
ended in the death of Llewelyn. 

The Earl seems to have been considerably burdened 
by his fathers debts, incurred, as Edward was dis- 
posed, very liberally, to admit, in the royal service. 
He obtained more than one respite from the Exchequer, 
and 12th Edward I, that department undertook to aid 
him in the recovery of monies due to his 1'ather's estate, 
and he was allowed £127 185. Ad. for the farm of the 
barton of Bristol for the 8th, 9th, and lOth years of 
the reign. After the North Wales campaign the King 
visited South Wales, and presented Abbot Adam, at 



138 THB LAND OF MORGAN: 

Neath, with a very beautiful baudekin. In 1285 the 
Sheriff of Glamorgan, Robert le Neil (Veal), was again 
guilty of violence, seizing for the Earl, unjustly, the 
lands of New Grange and of Terry, the property of 
Margam. 

In 1287 one of the final struggles of the Welsh, now 
without any recognised leader, took place under Rhys 
ap Meredith, on which occasion the Bailiff of St. 
Briavels was ordered to raise a force and place it under 
the Earl of Gloucester, who was to be supported by 
Mortimer and other marchers. llth June, Rhys had 
taken divers castles in the west, and was advancing 
upon Swansea, which, 27th June, he plundered and 
burnt ; and then burnt Oystermouth Castle in Gower. 
The Welsh prisoners seem to have been fairly treated. 
Griffith ap Meredith was committed to Richard Tybetot 
at Nottingham Castle, where he stayed six years and 
thirty-two weeks. There appears a charge of 16s. per 
annum for robes for him, and £25 2.9. "pro vadiis". 
Rees ap Maelgon and Conan ap Meredith were first, 
1286, sent to Bridgenorth, and thence, 1289, moved to 
Bamburgh. Rees had a grant of 10 marcs per annum 
rent, in Dalton juxta Drayenton, in 1307. 

When we read that one cause of the EarFs personal 
dislike to Prince Edward was his jealousy of his atten- 
tion to his wife, it seems strange to find a marriage 
proposed between the Earl and the daughter of the 
Prince, become King ; such, however, was the fact. 
There is much doubt as to why or when he was 
divorced from Alice of Angoulesme ; one account stating 
positively that the divorce was pronounced at Norwich 
18th July 1271, while other and more probable ac- 
counts place it as 1282, and Pkre Anselm fixes it in 
t 1283, and says the cause was "parcequklle £toit devenue 
hypocondre". What is recorded of Edward's intimacy 
with the lady, even if exaggerated, is scarcely consis- 
tent with a great affection between the husband and 
wife ; and no doubt the desire for male heirs had great 
weight. But there does not appear to have been any 



THE EARLS OF GLOUCESTER AND HERTFORD. 139 

scandal in the rupture. Alice was the appellant in the 
petition for divorce; and the Earl, 25tn May 1282, 
settled upon her, as the Lady Alicia de Marchia, cer- 
tain lands as a provision for her sustenance ; their 
daughter Isabel was also provided for. The pro- 
ceedings, however, seem, according to a deed in 
Bymer,not to have been completed until 16th May 1285. 

The object for which the divorce was brought about 
could have been no secret, for in May 1283, is dated 
the " Prselocutio" between the King and the Earl, 
touching a contract of marriage between the latter and 
the King's daughter. The King and his council are 
satisfied that the Earl will obtain from the Church the 
dissolution of his marriage with Alice, who was his 
wife, and are aware that he has purchased a dispensa- 
tion to marry the King's daughter, his kinswoman. 
The Earl is to surrender all his lands in England, Ire- 
land, and WaJes, so that he and his wife may be 
enfeoffed therein to them and the heirs of their 
bodies. If there be no such heirs, the lands go to 
the Countess for life, with the remainder to the EaiTs 
right heirs, excepting "deus mile marchees de terre", to 
be selected to the satisfaction of the King and Queen, 
and which the Countess is to have in fee as her in- 
heritance, together with any land that the Earl may 
purchase after marriage. This seems a perfectly rea- 
sonable settlement, having regard to the rank of the 
lady ; and the Kings oath to observe it was given by 
Otto de Grandison, as proxy, the Earl's in person. 

Princess Joan was born at Acre in 1272, Edwards 
second daughter, and was then therefore, in 1283, but 
eleven years old. The consummation of the marriage 
was on this account postponed, and took place at West- 
minster, 2nd May 1290, she being then eighteen years 
old. Edward gave her no portion. The dispensation 
referred to in 1283, and given by Rymer, seems not to 
have been signed till 16th November 1289 ; and it 
covered not only the relationship between Earl Gilbert 
and Joan, but that between Joan and Alice, the former 



140 THE LAND OF MORGAN: 

wife. The King married his two daughters on sue- 
cessive days. On the second of July 1290, Beatrice 
married the son and heir of the Duke of Brabant, and 
their feast was held at Westminster. Next day, "in 
crastino vero ipsius Dominicae Comes Gloucestriae, 
abducta uxore sua, quam nuper ante desponsaverat, loco 
nuptiarum celeberrimum fecit convivium apud Clerken- 
well celebritati superioris convivii non dissimile nec 
minus sumptuosum." Matilda, the Earl of Gloucesters 
mother, seems to have died about this time, for, lOth 
March 1289, her dower lands came into his possession. 
About the same time, probably between the contract 
and Earl Gilbert's marriage, occurred the celebrated 
quarrel between the Earls of Gloucester and Hereford, 
which led to serious consequences to both, and enabled 
Edward to carry into effect a stroke of policy very im- 
portant for the welfare of his kingdom. Hereford, 26th 
June 1289,complained that Gloucester had built a castle 
on his territory, and had collected an armed force and 
broken the peace. It appeared upon inquiry that the 
Earl of Gloucester had built Morlais Castle, as he said, 
within his border ; as the Earl of Hereford alleged, 
beyond it. Their dependents had met in arms with 
banners displayed, and had committed, as the King 
declared, a breach of his peace, or as Gloucester con- 
sidered it, of their own peace as marchers. Also the 
border had been harried, flocks and herds driven off, 
and a church despoiled, in which Gloucesters senes- 
chal had been the main offender. The King ordered 
both parties to pause, and await his decision. This 
command they disobeyed, and continued their local 
warfare. 18th Edward I, January 1290, the matter 
came before Parliament, and the Kine: took it up in 
earnest. A commission was appointed and reported/and 
both Earls were imprisoned. There exists a very curious 
record of a suit in the Kings Court arising out of this 
dispute, in which de Bohun was querent and de Clare 
defendant, in which de Bohun asserts that de Clare 
had neglected to fulfil the custom of the March, or of 



THE EARLS OF GLOUCESTER AND HERTFORD. 141 

Wales, which had long obtained, by which, when conten- 
tions arose between such magnates as held of the King 
"in capite", before any suit was lodged in the Kings 
Court, there should be taken "dies amoris sive Parlia- 
menti", also called a "dies Marchiae", when the causes of 
the quarrel were to be laid before the neighbours and 
common friends, acting as judges, so that the custom of 
the March thus might be cleared up. 

The proceedings upon the main inquiry are recorded 
at great length on the Rolls of Parliament, and were 
one of the " causes c^lfebres" of the reign. Before sen- 
tence was given the Earl of Gloucester had married the 
Kings daughter, but the Earl of Hereford was also 
connected with the royal family. In truth, the occasion 
was a good one to break down the power of the Marcher 
Lords, and the King availed himself of it to the full. 
The lands of both parties were forfeited, and, 20th 
Edward I, 1291-2, Roger de Burghull had custody of 
the"royal liberty", then in the hands of the Earl of 
Gloucester, in Glamorgan, and of the Earl of Hereford 
in Brecknock, which liberties were taken into the Kings 
hands by reason of the contempt and disobedience of 
the said Earls. The King thus asserted his right as 
over-lord to "totum regale in terris suis de Morgannon", 
and "totum regale libertatis sue de Brekenok." Glou- 
cester's lands were to remain in the King's hands "tota 
vita ipsius comitis", and for the other earl, "forisfacta 
de ipso Comite et heredibus suis in perpetuum." Here- 
ford, however, was really least in fault, and this was 
admitted, " Transgressio de qua convictus est non ita 
carcans, nec tantam penam requirit quantum, etc., de 
qua predictus Comes Glouc. convincitur"; and so, as 
Hereford had married the King's cousin, and his child- 
ren were of kin to the Kings children, his forfeiture 
also was limited to his life. Both were imprisoned, 
and Gloucester, besides paying £100 to Hereford for 
his losses, was fined 10,000 marcs to the King, and 
Hereford 1,000 marcs. Even the EarFs officers, who 
only obeyed orders, were fined. The offence was, in 
fact, treated just as though it had been committed in 



142 THE LAND OF MORGAN : 

any other part of the kingdom, and Edward was the 
first sovereign who could have ventured so to treat it. 
In Gloucesters case, the reason given for the limitation 
of the forfeiture to his life was that he had a son Gilbert, 
born 1291 at Winchcombe, begotten of the King's 
daughter, who was jointly enfeoffed of the estates with 
her nusband. There is a good deal of obscurity as to 
the different steps, both of the marriage and the forfeit- 
ure. The Earl's deed of surrender is dated 20th April 
1290, three weeks before his marriage, upon which was 
a re-settlement, much less favourabfe to him than that 
set forth in the Prcelocutio of 1283, being to the husband 
and wife jointly for life, remainder to the heirs of their 
bodies, remainder over to her heirs, instead of, as before, 
to his heirs. The lands so re-settled lay in the counties 
of Berks, Bucks, Cambridge, Derby, Devon, Dorset, 
Essex, Gloucester, Hants, Herts, Hunts, Kent, Lincoln, 
Norfolk, Northampton, Notts, Oxford,Somerset,Suffolk, 
Surrey, Sussex, Wilts, Worcester, and in Wales, a pro- 
digious estate. The Irish lands were included, but with 
remainder to his heirs. 

In 1290 occurred a revival of the old dispute as to 
the custody of the temporalities of Llandaff, "sede 
vacante." It appeared that in 1240, when Bishop Elias 
died, King Henry put in Waleran Teutonicus to ad- 
minister, and he collated to one prebend Master William 
de Burgh, treasurer, and to another Alfred de Fescamp, 
sub-treasurer of the Wardrobe, and to the archdeaconry 
Thomas, the queen-mothers chaplain ; and at the term 
of his custos-ship he accounted for the proceeds to the 
Exchequer. At that time the Chapter elected Arch- 
deacon Maurice to the See, but the election was set 
aside by the King. William of Christchurch was then 
chosen, and appears on the roll of bishops from 1240 to 
1244, when he resigned, no doubt because disapproved 
by the King; and William de Burgh, above mentioned, 
and then chaplain to the King, became bishop, and so 
remained till his death in 1253. The earl was at that 
time under age, and though a protest was entered 
against the Kings interference, it was not pressed. 



THE EARLS OF GLOUCESTER AND HERTFORD. 143 

Bishop William de Braose died, it appears, 19th 
March 1286-7, when the Archbishop of Canterbury 
revoked the commission of Master Thomas de St. 
Audomard as official of Llandaff, and appointed Master 
Aniamo Calus (?) then a canon of St. Asaph. On the 
Bishop's death, or soon afterwards, the Marcher Lords, 
under whom the lands of the See were holden, took 
possession of them. The Earl of Gloucester took 
Llandaff and Llancader- Warden manors, Lord William 
de Braose took Bishopston in Gower, and the Earls of 
Hereford and Norfolk, and Edmund the Kings brother, 
took others. November 3rd, 1290, the King's escheator, 
Malcolm de Harley, raised objection to this, and, the 
See being still vacant, claimed the custody of the manors 
for the Crown. De Braose and the others gave way, 
but Gloucester stood up for his rights. He asserted 
the whole "patria" of Glamorgan to be "dominio suo", 
and all wardships, that of the See included, to belong 
to him, as they had always belonged to his ancestors, 
save when under age, and the lord had, on that account, 
been a ward to the King. He stated that his father 
Richard, had, at his death, actually been in possession 
of the manors in question, the See being then vacant. 
The Earl was, no doubt, in his right, but the King had 
him at a disadvantage, and his object was certainly for 
the good of the realm, so the Earl had to give way, and 
did so in October 1290 ; but to make the cession more 
palatable a special grant, 2nd November 1292 (Ryley 
says October 1290), of the privileges for their joint 
and several lives was made to the Earl and Countess 
Joan, with remainder to the King and his heirs for ever. 
This case was cited in 1293 against John de Warenne, 
Earl of Surrey, who claimed the custody of the tem- 

{>oralities of St. Asaph. Of de Clare and the other 
ords, it was said, "Nichil clamare poterunt, propter 
privilegium regium, et corone dignitatem, ad quam 
specialiter pertinet Episcopatuum vacantium custodia." 
Warrenne was non-suited. The whole transaction well 
exemplifies the mixture of firmness and moderation with 



144 THE LAND OF MORGAN: 

which the great King carried out meaaures that affected 
the unity of his kingdom. 

5th July 1291, Richard de Tonsmere, chaplain, was 
instituted to the Church of High Anvolle (Highlight), 
on the presentation of David de Someri, its lord, by the 
archbishop, the See being vacant. 3rd September 1294, 
John Gordon was custos of the temporalities of Llandaff, 
and the Abbot of Margam collector of the current 
subsidy. The dispute between the King and the Earl 
will account for the uncertainty as to the occupancy of 
the See between 1287 and 1296, when John de Mon- 
mouth was appointed, but the King had to interfere to 
force the Earl to give him seizin. On another occasion , 
1291-2, the Earl seems to have taken the law into his 
own hands, in the case of a trespass committed by the 
Earl of Norfolk upon his tenants of Usk and Trilleck. 
Arbitrators were named who were to inspect the inqui- 
sitions as to the possessions of VVilliam Earl Mareschal, 
from whom the manors were derived. About the same 
time the Malvern dispute was reopened. The Earl and 
Countess threw up an earthen bank along the crest of 
the ridge, to which Giffard Bishop of Worcester objected 
as an encroachment. This waB settled by an agree- 
ment signed at Tewkesbury, October 1291, by which 
the Bishop, or in his absence the Prior and Chapter of 
Worcester, were to have annually from the Earl two 
fat bucks and two fat does. 

The King's determination to put an end to the privi- 
leges of the Marcher Lords, no doubt led others to 
contest them. Thus, the Prior of Goldcliff summoned 
the Earl to appear at his court at Newport to answer 
for trespass. The Earl neglected to appear, and stated 
that the King knew how he was engaged at the date 
of the first summons, and that as to the second, he 
knew not whether he had received it or not- but, when 
pressed, he claimed time, on the plea that his wardrobe, 
no doubt containing, or supposed to contain, records 
ofhischancery.wasinthepartsofWales. 

In 1294, notwithstanding the general subjugation of 



THE EARLS OF GLOUCESTEB AND HERTF0RD. 145 

the PrincipaJity, the local troubles were considerable, 
especially in South Wales, where they were fomented 
by Conan ap Meredith and Maelgon ap Rhys. In the 
spring of 1295 was a general rising, when a certain 
Madoc, from the recesses of Snowdon, descended upon 
and burned Caernarvon, while another Madoc overran 
Pembroke and Caermarthen, and Morgan of Avan 
seems at one time to have gained complete mastery 
in Glamorgan. De Clare, never quite equal to a great 
emergency, waa probablv disabled by diseaae. In any 
case, Edward would probably have himself taken the 
lead ; as it was, he acted with his usual vigour. In 
November 1294, he was at Aberconway, where he 
seems to have stayed till lst April 1295, when he had 
140 war ships in the Menai Straits. He was next in 
Anglesea and, 7th May, at Bangor. On the llth and 
12th he was at Cymmer Abbey, by Dolgellau, and, on 
the 14th and 15th, on the moated mound of Talybont, 
just above Towyn. On the 17th he was at Llanpadarn 
Vawr ; between the 20th and 23rd, at Aberystwith ; 
and on the 29th, at Llandewi-brevi, — moving, there- 
fore, with immense rapidity, and with a considerable 
force, "amazement in his van, with flight combined", 
though unaccompanied by any of the severities of war, 
for the terror of his name seemed to have reduced the 
rebels to order. On the 2nd and 3rd of June he was 
at Cardigan ; on the 6th at Drysllwyn Castle, whence 
he marched to Merthyr in Morganwg (Merthyr Tydvil), 
between the 12th and 15th, and wnence, no doubt, he 
visited Morlais. Thence, having quieted the Princi- 
pality, he returned northwards to Brecknock, 16th of 
June, and was at Builth 17th, Clun 19th, Welshpool 
22nd, Whitchurch 24th, and on the lst of July he was 
again at Aberconway, whence, soon after, he moved to 
London. His transit across the Principality, rapid as 
it was, had the best effect, "Rex", says the continuator 
of Florence, "Rex penetravit totam Walliam juxta cas- 
trum de Morlais. Omnes Wallenses de dominio comitis 
Gloucestriae rex suscepit ad pacem suam, contra volunta- 

L 



146 THE LAND OF MORGAN : 

tem dicti Comitis. Et rex dedit eis custodem, videlicet, 
Dominum Walterum Hacklut." In the Eulogium His- 
toriantm the Kings movement is more briefly noticed. 
"Rex de Snowdoun per Walliam progrediens, occiden- 
talem intravit Glanmorgan." The Earl must indeed have 
seen that his Marcher kingdom was at an end, and 
that, too, just when he had attained the highest object 
of a subjects ambition — a marriage with a daughter 
of the sovereign. At the close of this memorable year, 
7th December 1295, 24th Edward I, he died, in the 
•Castle of Monmouth, aged fifty-two years, and having 
held the earldom thirty-three years. On the 22nd of 
the month he was laid at Tewkesbury, on the left hand 
of his father. Richard de Talbot was appointed Go- 
vernor of the Castle and town of Cardiff. (Abb. pl. v, 1 , 
100, 25 Ed. 1.) 

By Alice de la March he had a daughter, Isabel, 
born lOth March 1261. She married Maurice Lord 
Berkeley, 1304-5. She seems to have been granted 
the custody of certain lands held by the King by reason 
of the nonage of Gilbert, son and heir of Gilbert Earl 
of Gloucester, etc. In 1314, Roger Mortimer of Wig- 
more admitted a debt due to her of 300 marcs. She 
also held lands contingent on her stepmothers death ; 
for in 1315 Ralph de Monthermer, Countess Joans 
husband, did service for certain lands which after- 
wards devolved on Isabella. Also in 1327-8, being 
Berkeley's widow, she petitioned, stating that her 
brother, Earl Gilbert, had granted her the manors of 
Shipton and Barford, for the restitution of which she 
prayed. She was to show her charters. Berkeley had 
been justiciary in SouthWales, and custos of the castles 
there. Isabel seems to have died childless, 1338. 

By his second wife, Joan of Acre, the Earl had a 
son, Gilbert, born 1291, and three daughters, Eleanor, 
or Alianor, Elizabeth and Margaret, afterwards co- 
heiresses of the estate, to the exclusion of their half- 
sister Isabel, who was, no doubt, ousted by the sur- 
render and settlement of the estates, and by the rule 
a^ainst the inheriting by the half blood. 



THE EARLS OF GLOUCESTER AND HERTPOKD. 147 

The EarFs executors were Thomas, Abbot of Tewkes- 
bury, Robert le Veal of co. Somerset, Simon de Hey- 
ham, Adam de Blechingley, and William de Hamel- 
don ; and to them, on the EarFs death, at Countess 
Joan's request, the King pardoned 10,000 marcs due 
to the Exchequer. It appears that the whole debt 
was £7284 5s. 7^d., against which was a set-offof 
£2262 12s. 3d. Joan did homage on her accession, 
18th January 1296. Her keeper of the wardrobe was 
John de Bruges, parson of Heghtred. 

Among the allowances for the year is £79 65. for 
the transport of fifty South Welsh hostages from 
Bristol to Salisbury Castle. Thirteen others were sent 
to Newcastle, and sixty to Bamburgh. Three prisoners 
taken by Roger de Knovil were pardoned for £40. 

Joan married secretly and speedily in 1296 Ralph de 
Monthermer, a simple esquire, upon whom she seems 

Ereviously to have induced the King to confer knight- 
ood. The precise date of the marriage is not pre- 
served ; but 16th March 1297, it was unknown, for 
Edward assented to a proposal for marrying Joan to 
Amadaeus, Earl of Savoy. When the marriage was 
discovered, Edward was furious. He imprisoned Mon- 
thermer, and seized all his daughter's lands. 15th 
March 1297, Marc de Harley had her in custody, and 
was to provide her with reasonable sustenance. Ed- 
wards paternal love must have been strong, for before 
long, at the intercession of Bishop Bec, he gave way. 
Her answer to her father^s remonstrances is said to 
have pleased him. " It is not," said she, " considered 
an ignominy for a powerful Earl to marry «pauperculam 
mulierem et tenuem' ; neither therefore is it repre- 
hensible in a Countess ' Juvenem strenuum promo- 
vere.' " Joan was allowed to reside quietly at Marl- 
borough, and after a short time the marriage was 
recognized; and 26th Edward I, 1297-8, Monthermer 
had livery of the estates, and was summoned as Earl 
of Gloucester and Hertford by the tenure of fifty 
knighfs fees. He proved a gallant soldier, rose high 

l2 



148 THE LAND OF MORGAN: 

in the King's favour, and after some delay seems to 
have heen allowed to administer the lordship of Gla- 
morgan till the majority of the young Earl. 

Meantime the King, administering as guardian, had 
issued writs to Morgan the son of Meredith, and David 
le Grant, to levy and send forward Welsh troops to 
Gascony ; and another writ with Morgan couples Henry 
de Penbruge. 9th May 1297, the custos was to hear the 
plaints, according to the local custom, of Simon de 
ilalege and Joanna his wife, and James de Bonneville 
and Amabilia his wife. These probably related to 
Wrenchester, the Ralegh estate in Glamorgan. 3rd 
July 1297, writs were issued to postpone a payment 
of 100 marcs, which the men of Tyriarth (Tir-y jarll) had 
been fined, with Countess Joan, to be secured in their 
ancient customs, and of a similar payment of 500 
marcs from the men of Miscin and Glynrothny, and 
100 marcs from the commonalty of Senghennith ; and 
15th July, Walter de Hacklut, Custos, was ordered 
to complete the gate of the Castle of Llantrissant, 
which ne had begun. 18th July, at the prayer of 
the Archbishop, the King restored to the Bishop of 
Llandaff his lands which had been held by the Barons 
of the Exchequer ; also the Countess Joan, in the ex- 
ercise of her rights, sold the wardship of John le Sor 
for ten years to Lovetot, who sold it to a Sienna mer- 
chant for 260^ marcs. Le Sor was a Glamorgan land- 
holder. 

In 1301, Tonbridge Castle was restored to the Earl 
and Countess, with estates in Kent, Surrey, Sussex, 
and the Isle of Portland. In Marc de Harley's ac- 
counts for the Honour of Tonbridge is a charge for 
" vadia" for a Welsh hostage there kept. The royal 
accounts extend from 2nd May 1298, to 16th Novem- 
ber 1301, when the restoration took place. In 1301, 
Monthermer signed the barons' letter to Pope Boni- 
face the VIII, as " R. de Monthermer Com. Glouces- 
tri® et Hertfordise." The Archbishop wrote to him 
about restoring the goods of Earl Gilbert to his ex- 



THE EABLS OF GLOUCESTEB AND HERTFORD. 149 

ecutors, and cites Robert de St. Fagan, treasurer of 
the church of Llandaff, to reply concerningthem. This 
was Robert le Veal who was Lord of St. Fagan's. In 
1304-5, a subsidy was levied upon Wales for the war. 
North Wales paid £1,333 6s. 8d. ; West Wales, 
£833 6s. 8d. ; Flint, £333 6*. 8d. ; Powys, £216 
135. Ad.; Builth, £50; Montgomery, £40; total, 
£2,806 13*. 4rf. 

26th July 1306, Prince Edward writes to Joan from 
Lambeth, thanking her for her goods and her seal, 
which latter he returns by his clerk. He assures her 
that the King is not so harsh to him as she has been 
told. 1304-5, Earl Ralph appointed Richard de Ro- 
chelle to be his sheriff for Glamorgan. In 1306, 
the year of Bruce^s coronation at Scone, he received 
from Edward the lands of Athol, Strathbolgi, and 
Strathern. He was then styled Earl of Gloucester 
and Huntingdon. 26th February 1307, in the year of 
Edward's death, the Earl was one of the four Lords 
sworn to enforce the order for the banishment of Ga- 
veston. Countess Joan died in March in that year, 
when her father was engaged in his last campaign. 
The news reached him at Carlisle. He issued two 
mandates : one, lst April, commending her to God, and 
directing prayer to be made for her soul, and another, 
9th May, announcing her death " non sine cordis ama- 
ritudine ,, , and directing Mass to be said. He himself 
followed her on the 7th July. Soon afterwards, on the 
coming of age of his step-son, Kalph laid aside the 
title of Gloucester and Hertford, and afterwards took 
rank as a Baron only. Between Joans death and his 
own, Edward, by writ of Privy Seal, 14th June, for- 
mally acquitted Kalph de Monthermer, Earl of Glou- 
cester, all debts which he and his late wife Joan owed 
to him, and, from Carlisle, 14th November 1307, 
ordered letters of release under the great seal. 

Monthermer lived on into the reign of Edward II, 
and survived the young earl. He was taken at Ban- 
nockburn, but released, and married to his second wife, 



150 THE LAND OF MOBGAN: 

Isabel, sister of Aymer of Valence and widow of John 
Hastings, Earl of Pembroke, also a great heiress and 
allied to royalty. Both his wives were great heiresses, 
but both had sons by previous husbands, so that neither 
he nor his children inherited from them. By Joan he 
had two sons, but his eventual heiress was a daughter 
who married John de Montacute, since which all suc- 
ceeding Montacutes and, on questionable authority, 
the Montagues, have quartered the arms of Monthermer. 

Countess Joan gave lands at Caversham for her souTs 
weal and that of Earl Gilbert, and was buried in the 
church of the Augustins at Clare. Her brother, Edward 
II, and many magnates, attended her funeral. Neither 
Monthermer nor his countess seem to have taken much 
interest in Glamorgan matters; in 1316, however, he 
held the wardship of Peter le Veele, a Glamorgan land- 
owner, at that time a minor. 

Gilbert de Clare, 8th Earl of Gloucester, and 8th of 
Hereford, and lOth Earl of Clare, was born in 1291, 
and was thus about four years old at his fathers death 
in 1295, and seventeen at that of his mother in 1307. 
He seems to have been on good terms with his cousin, 
Edward II, in their youth, for in a letter to his father 
in 1305, theprince asked to be allowed to haveGilbert 
de Clare and Perot de Gaveston as companions. In 
1306, while under age and a ward to the King his grand- 
father, the Earl appeared before the Court at Westmin- 
ster, and claimed to be allowed certain tenements, 
liberties, advowsons of churches, etc, which his father 
had possessed in the city of London, holden by socage 
tenure, and which did not pass into the King's ward- 
ship, but by the custom of the city could be claimed 
when the neir was of an age to manage them and 
himself ; until when they were to be in the charge of 
his next friend. The claim was admitted and livery 
was granted, he being then eighteen years old, " et 
habet sensum, racionem, et intellectum ad regendum se 
et sua." This was extended, 26th November 1307, to 
all his possessions throughout England held in socage 



THE EARLS OF GLOUCESTER AND HERTFORD. 151 

or fee farm, and indeed the entry on the Close Boll 
looks as though the King admitted him at once to all 
his possessions. His mothers death and the accession 
of Edward nearly coincide with his assumption of his 
titles and the enjoyment of his estates. 

One of EdwarcTs first acts was to recal Gaveston, and 
to give him the earldom of Cornwall, and Margaret, 
one of Gloucester's sisters, for a wife. They were 
hetrothed 29th October 1307, and the bridegroom had 
large gifts in money and jewels from the late King's 
treasury. The offence Gaveston gave to the nobles 
speedily led to his second banishment, decreed by 
letters patent, 8th of May, and which was actually 
enforced 25th of March 1308. The King, however, 
diverted the blow by sending him to Ireland as regent. 
On this occasion Gloucester seems to have remained 
neuter. In this year a writ was issued to the custos of 
Dene Forest to augment the bishopric of Llandaff, 
which "nimis exilis esse dinoscitur", bv the gift of the 
Church of All Saints, Newland, promised by the late 
King. Also inquiry is to be made as to the claim of 
the neighbouring parsons to assarts in the forest. In 
July 1309, Gaveston returned, and on this occasion 
Earl Gilbert stood his friend and made his peace with 
the barons, though for a short time only. At this time 
the Abbot of Margam was about to attend a Cistercian 
chapter. 

At the council of Westminster in March 1310, Glou- 
cester was one of the four earls appointed to keep the 
peace. He also was one of the "ordainers" appointed 
by the King at that council, at the close of which 
Edward went to Scotland, leaving the Earl of Lincoln 
as regent, who, dying in February 1311, was succeeded, 
4th March, by the Earl of Gloucester. Some of his 
acts in that capacity are cited in a petition to Parlia- 
ment, 8th Edward II. In August the King again met 
his Parliament in London, and the ordainers gave in 
their report, four articles of which provided for the 
banishment of Gaveston, to which the King was forced 



152 THE LAND OF MORGAN: 

to yield. In February 1312, the King, violating his 
assent, recaHed Gaveston ; on which tne barons rose, 
captured him at Scarborough castle — an event followed 
by his illegal but well deserved death, 19th June 1311. 

The Earl's position from the first had been one of 
great difficulty. As nephew to, and an early friend of, 
the King he was naturally one of his chief supporters ; 
but his tendencies, like those of his father and grand- 
father, were to oppose the abuse of the royal power, 
and, as far as possible, to moderate its excesses. He evi- 
dently, all along, disapproved of Gavestons proceedings, 
and although on one occasion he took his part, and was 
relied upon by the offender, he showed no disposition 
to avenge his death, but joined his efforts to those of 
the Bishops to bring about a better understanding. It 
was at his request that the jewels taken with Gaveston 
were given up to the King. By some accounts, when 
pressed by the Earl of Leicester to interfere to save 
Gaveston, he declined, save only to change the manner 
of his death. Edward seems to have regarded him 
with distrust, and he is ordered not to attend Parlia- 
ment "cum equis et armis, more debito", but to come 
as in the time of the late King. His exertions certainly 
contributed largely to stave off the civil war. 20tn 
April 1312, he had a safe-conduct, with his horses and 
arms, to pass through London to Eltham. 

23rd May 1313, Edward attended the coronation of 
the King of Navarre, leaving Gloucester to open Parlia- 
ment as regent. He seems, at this time, to have had 
heavy unsettled accounts with the exchequer. In 
1309-11, he had £1,000 for his expenses in Scotland, 
and 3,500 marcs were to be paid him from the first 
money received from wardships. He had also a grant 
of 5,000 marcs on the same account. In 1313-14, he 
went to France on a mission; and in June 1314, 
attended the King in Scotland, bringing 5,000 retainers 
at his own charge, and thus supported, he appeared 
with the king at Bannockburn, 24-30th June 1314. 

The rivalry with his Welsh neighbour, de Bohun, 



THE EAKLS OF GLOTJCESTER AND HERTF0RD. 153 

displayed itself on the battle-field. De Clare claimed the 
vanguard, the place of his ancestors, against de Bohun, 
who claimed it as High Constable. While the chiefs 
disputed, the Scots advanced, and de Clare, in his 
undisciplined valour, rode hard in advance of his men 
to draw the first blood. He became entangled in the 
ranks, was overthrown, and fighting valiantly, was 
slain. "There", says Walsingham, " charged that noble 
soldier, Gilbert Earl of Clare, avenging with his own 
hands upon the Scots the cruel deatn that awaited 
him." With him fell Giles de Argentine, who had 
advanced to his rescue. Gloucester is said to have 
owed his death to having charged without waiting for 
his surcoat of armorial bearings, so that the Scots were 
ignorant of his name ; otherwise, the immense ransom 
tnat would have been paid for him would have saved 
his life. His body was given up without ransom and 
sent to the Kinff at Berwick. It rested finally at 
Tewkesbury, on the left hand of that of his father. 

Earl Gilbert was but twenty-three years old at his 
death in June 1314, and had survived his father nine- 
teen years. By his wife Maud, who appears to have 
been a daughter of John, son of Bichard de Burgh, 
Earl of Ulster, he had one son, John, who died just 
before his father, andwas buried at Tewkesbury in the 
Lady chapel. With the Earl, therefore, ended the 
main line of the great house of Clare, Earls of Glou- 
cester and Hereford. The Countess declared herself 
not only pregnant but quick with child, a statement 
which gave nse to some very curious legal proceedings 
between her and the husbands of the sisters and pre- 
sumptive co-heirs; nor was it until 1317 that the 
dispute was settled and all hope of issue given up. The 
case was raised by Hugh le Despenser, husband of the 
the elder co-heir, who prayed for a division of the 
estates and tendered homage. On this the Countess 
pleaded pregnancy, and offered herself to a jury of 
matrons under a writ "de ventre inspiciendo", for which, 
however, Despenser did not move. The question of 



154 THE LAND OF MORQAN: 

law as to how long it would be proper to wait was one 
of extreme nicety , " novum et dimcile", some holding 
that no child born eleven months after the reputed 
father'8 death could be really his. The King referred 
the matter, by a writ of privy seal, to the chancellor 
and two justices, who advised a reference to Parliament. 
It was, however, referred to certain doctors of the 
canon law, and finally came before Parliament in the 
quindene of Easter, 1317, when the statement of preg- 
nancy was abandoned, and it was admitted that by the 
course of nature the Countess "non posset dici a predicto 
comite impregnata." The King then accepted the 
homage of the husbands, all the sisters being married. 

Under the Close Roll of 8th Edward II, 1314-15, 
an assignation of dower was made to the Countess. 
Upon the Welsh lands she had £440 Ss. l\d., and to 
make up one third of the issues of Great Marlow, 
Bucks, £64 125. O^d. ; total, £504 Ibs. 2d. She had 
the castle, manor, and vill of Caerleon, the manors of 
Lyswini and Llevenyth, and lands in Edlegarn and 
Little Tintern, besides lands in Berks, Gloucester, 
Norfolk, Oxford, Suffolk, Surrey, and Wilts. 

The returns of the Kings escheator show who were 
reputed the heirs of the Earl, and what lands he held 
" in capite." The returns, being from many counties, 
were very numerous, but most stated that, saving the 
pregnancy of the widow, the heirs were the three 
sisters, then of full age. Some, however, include Isabel, 
the earl's half-sister, on which point it was decided, 
"et quia in aliquibus inquisitionibus continebatur, quod 
Isabella, prout soror et haeres praefati comitis simul cum 
praedictis Alianora et Margareta, consideratum fuit, etc. 
. . . . at inquirendum, etc/ .... and the return further 
stated, "quod non fiiit aliqua Isabella soror praedicti 
comitis que debuit succedere in aliqua parte dictse 
hereditatis, sed quod prsefata Alianora, Margareta, et 
Elizabetha fuerunt sorores, etc." . . . Isabel was no 
doubt doubly excluded, by the surrender of the estate 
and its re-settlement, on the Earl's second marriage, 



THE EARLS OF GLOUGESTER AND HEBTFORD. 155 

and as being related by the half blood only. The re- 
turns from Oxford, Berks, and SufFolk, give Eleanor, 
Margaret, and Isabel. Here, however, Isabel seems to 
beput for Elizabeth. 

The Earl's executors, Bichard de Rodney, Ithel de 
Caerwent, and Bichard de Byflet, had a writ to give 
seizin to the heirs 15th June 1317. They had already, 
5th July 1314, got possession of the personalty. On 
the EarFs death, the "sigillum deputatum" for the land 
of Glamorgan was placed in the King's hands, who 

§ive it, 23rd July, 7th Edward II, to Ingelram de 
erenger, custos of the land, who, 28th October 1314, 
came to the Exchequer and gave it up to the barons. 

The actual partition was a tedious business, and 
"pendente lite the estates remained in the King's 
hands, and certain "custodes" managed them. John 
Giffard of Brimmesfield, called"Le Rych", an active 
soldier much concerned in Welsh aflkirs, had charge of 
the castles of Glamorgan and Morgan. His father, 
also, John Giffard, had held St. Briavels, 47th Henry 
III, and Dynevor, 18th Edward I, and seems to have 
held Brunlais in right of his first wife, Maud CHfford. 
The younger John was custos of Drysllwyn, 2nd Ed- 
ward II, and was taken at Borough Bridge, and ex- 
ecuted 1322. Various details of administration were 
settled by the King. 7th August 1314, he granted to 
Geoffrey de Aylsham, the late EarFs contessor, the 
issues of the vacant See of Durham. 14th September 
1314, Bartholomew de Badlesmere was in charge of 
Glamorgan, and all the officers of the lordship were to 
have the same fees as in the time of the Earl. Also he 
is to store the castles. The fees, it appears, were : — To 
the Sheriff 100 marcs yearly, two robes, and £6 for an 
additional horse; to the comptroller, £6 ISs. 4d., and 
405. for robes; to the constable of Cardiff Castle, 
£4 6s. 8d., and £12 for robes; to the constable of 
Llantrissant Castle, £13 6s. 8d.; of Caerphilly, £40, 
and for robes, £5. The constable of the Tower of 
London is to receive and hold Morgan de Avene, who 



156 THE LAND OF MORGAN: 

will be delivered to him by William de Braose. Mor- 
gan was still in the Tower 13th July 1316, when there 
was Bome mention of his bails. 14th March 1315, 
Badlesmere was to appoint Llewelyn ap Griffith (an- 
cestor of Lewis of Van and Green Meadow), to a baillie- 
wick, such as he held in the time of the late Earl, if he 
be fit for it. 1 5th March, the Welsh of Morganwg have 
petitioned the King that the hostages in custody with 
Badlesmere should be allowed such sustenance from 
the lands as they were accustomed to have from Earl 
Gilbert and his ancestors. The King asks how this 
was; and if the petition be well founded the practice 
is to be continued. At the same time, 14th March, 
Llewelyn ap Griffith states that the "Forcelettum de 
Blank Mouster", our tower of Whitchurch, is "in nullo 
(novo) edificatum", and that there is a mill there with 
profits attached to it. The King directs that Llewelyn 
is to have the "forcelettum", but that Badlesmere is to 
do with the mill as seems best. The "forcelettum" 
seems eventually to have reverted to the chief lord, 
but the land near it still is held by Llewelyn's de- 
scendant, Mr. Lewis. Llewelyn further pleads a pro- 
mise from Earl Gilbert of 10 maxcs rent, of which 
he has received two by gift in E^loswladus (Capel 
Gwladys). He also complains of having been unjustly 
harassed. In 1317, 15th May, Edward orders this to 
be set right, and the 8 marcs to be paid out of the 
issues of Glamorgan. John, Bishop of Llandaff, also 
puts in a claim for the tithe of gmnts of the "new 
land" in all the extra-parochial parts of Dene Forest, 
granted by the late King on account of the poverty of 
the See ; and, because there is a question about the 
boundaries, Ralph de Monthermer, as custos of the 
Forest, is to see to the matter. In this 8th Edward II, 
eleven men of Tiriarth were remitted 50 marcs of their 
fine for rebellion, and those of Neath 200 marcs. They 
seem to have paid 50 marcs, 3rd Edward II, out of a 
fine of 200 marcs, and the men of Neath 200 marcs 
out of 500 marcs, through Badlesmere. To William de 



\ 



THE EABLS OF OLOUCESTER AND HERTFORD. 157 

Berkerolles is remitted 10 marcs, to John le Noreis 
£10, and to Robert de Greyndon £10. Also to Leysan 
de Avene was allowed 40 marcs if he could show that, 
as he said, he had expended so much of his own money 
when directed to defend Kenfig; also a similar my- 
ment of 50 marcs to Payn de Turberville. The Abbot 
of Caerleon stated that Earl Gilbert had taken great 
part of his land under an exchange, but had not 
iulfilled the agreement. He had £10 on this account 
from the issues of Glamorgan. The Bishop was John 
of Monmouth, a member apparently of the baronial 
house of that name and place. He was an active person 
in Welsh affairs, and ever on the side of order. In 
1310 he was one of the fifteen Lords Ordainers ; and, 
in 1311-14, he and his chapter advanced 100 marcs to 
the King ; and, in 1320, he was the agent for enforcing 
a loan from the knights Hospitallers in his diocese. In 
the following year he appears as pronouncing eccle- 
siastical censures against those who spoke evil of the 
King. In 1322 he was called upon to give an opinion 
upon the exile of the Despensers, having been absent 
from the council in which the judgment was declared 
illegal. Soon afberwards he employs the spiritual arm 
and offered up prayers for the King's success, which, 
however, he enforced by the temporal arm, by furnish- 
ing men-at-arms. He is, however, getting old, and on 
this plea excuses himself from attending the Parliament 
at York ; and in 1323 he died. 

A mild and just policy marks all the King's deci- 
sions in these local matters. The men of Senghenydd 
complained that the housebote and heybote they had 
under the Earl were taken away by Badlesmere, who 
had sold the "bosc". In this, also, they were to have 
satisfaction. lst December 1315, Turberville is to be 
custos of Glamorgan, with charge of the castles, and to 
take fealty from all who held of the lordship, whether 
in Glamorgan or Pembroke. Kobert de Greyndon, 
however, was made sheriff in the lands held by Gilbert 
de Clare of the King "in capite". He held office from the 



158 THE LAND OF MORGAN: 

death of Earl Gilbert to the Assumption of the Virgin, 
lOth Edward II, and had £10 for his expenses against 
the Welsh. The remissions had reference to the past 
rebellion, but there was still much local discontent, 
which in this year broke out in East Glamorgan under 
the leadership of Llewelyn Bren, a landowner on the 
leffc bank of the Taff, within the hill country. 9th 
February 1316, the sheriffs of Gloucester and Somerset, 
and John de Wysham, constable of St. Briavels, were 
to provide men and victuals for a force to put down the 
rising, and Stephen le Blund is to provide the money. 
13th February, Humphrey de Bohun was to take the 
command. Peace was at once restored. 23rd March, 
Bohun was ordered to send Llewelyn Bren, his wife, 
and sons, Griffith and Gevan, to the Tower, where they 
still remained, 17th June 1317. Also, 26th March, 
Wm. de Montacute, Hy. de Pembrugge, and Bobert de 
Grendon were to sit and take fines in Glamorgan for 
the breach of the laws. Bail was taken for Llewelina, 
wife of Llewelyn, for David, Meuric and Ruyn ap 
Llewelyn, Howel ap Ivor, Ywaun ap Ivor, Llewelyn ap 
Madoc, Madoc Vachan, Grono ap Res, and Res Miskyn, 
all, probably, relations or neighbours of Uewelyn Bren. 
John Giffard is to pay Greyndon's fees as sheriff. For 
services during the rising, the King gave to Bimus Bol 
of Sheghere, the land of Sheghere which Rimus 
Vaughan had held under the Earl. To Wm. Fleming 
was committed the custody of Llantrissant Castle, and 
the Forest of Miskyn as bailiff. Afterwards he fell 
under the Kings displeasure, and was executed at 
Cardiff for treason. AJso, Maurice de Berkeley was to 
be a justice of South Wales, with the custody of all the 
King's castles not given to others. 

The King's lenient conduct was not appreciated ; and 
ascribed, not unjustly, to his weakness. 20th Sep- 
tember 1316, he informs the Bishop of Llandaff that he 
hears that many outlaws and other malefactors frequent 
the Church of Llandaff, and are there received and kept, 
going to and fro at their pleasure, and committing rob- 



THE EARLS OF GLOUCESTER AND HERTFORD. 159 

beries, etc, in those parts. The bishop is called upon 
to apply a remedy. 

5th November. Letters patent inform the men of 
Glamorgan that John Walwayn and John Giffard were 
assigned to receive arrears of fines in those parts for 
the redemption of life and limb, upon their goods and 
chattels, under the awards of Wm. de Montacute and 
his fellows in the year preceding. Of the same date 
was a writ for the delivery of all the Welsh concerned 
in Llewelyn Bren's rising who had paid the fines 
awarded by Montacute, but the effect of the disturbance 
was long folt, and, as late as 1224-5, the Prior of Gold- 
cliff was in arrear with his tithe on account of Llewelyn 
Bren's excesses. The Close Roll of 5th February 1316 
states that Ralph de Monthermer and Joan, his wife, 
the King's sister, by charter, at the request of Edward 
I, granted to Morgan ap Meredith all his land of 
Edlegarn for life, for £15 yearly, and he was to pay for 
the remaining lands above that value ; but Morgan now 
states that when Earl Gilbert took seizin he removed 
him from Edlegarn, and in its place gave him Cogan- 
more hamlet for life, worth not above £10, as the 
recent inquisition shows, on which Morgan prays that 
in consideration for his services, past and future, he 
may be allowed 100$. in land. To this the King con- 
sented, and ordered Turberville to see to it. 

The three sisters, in behalf of whom "divisus est 
comitatus nobilissimus in tres baronias", were all mar- 
ried, and their husbands continued to press for the 
division of the spoil. They were : — 1 , Alianor, aged 
twenty-two in 1314; married in 1312 Hugh le I)e- 
spenser, and on his death, William Lord Zouch of 
Mortimer. 2, Margaret, aged twenty-one in 1314; 
married, first, Piers Gaveston, and aiterwards Hugh 
D'Audley, the younger. 3, Elizabeth, married, first, 
John, son and heir of John de Burgh, Earl of Ulster ; 
next, Theobald Verdon, and, finally, Boger d'Amory. 

As, in the partition, the lordship of Glamorgan, the 
Castles of Cardiff and Caerphilly, and the patronage 



160 THE LAND OP MOBGAN: 

of Tewkesbury, fell to the elder sister, her descendants 
by Despenser were regarded as continuing the line of 
de Clare, so far as regarded Glamorgan, and their 
history alone belongs to the history of that county. 

Gaveston, the husband of Margaret de Clare, was a 
Gascon knight, brought up with young Edward, until 
the King, seeing his excessive and mischievous in- 
fluence over the Prince, removed him, February 1307, 
just before his death, and banished him from England. 
Edward, become Kinff, at once recalled him, and, 29th 
October 1307, betrotned him to Margaret de Clare, to 
whom, immediately afterwards, he was married, at 
Berkhamstead, an appanage of the Earldom of Corn- 
wall just granted, 6th August, to Gaveston. The new 
Earl's follies and arrogance, and his alternate prosperity 
and adversity, beWto the history of the reigrT Ke 
was beheaded 19th June 1312, and the long list of his 
possessions occupies five pages in the Fcedera. Edward 
buried him with great ceremony at Langley, and him- 
self placed two paJls of cloth of gold upon his tomb. 
By Margaret he leffc a daughter, Joan, whom he had 
proposed to betroth to Thomas, son and heir of John, 
Lord Wake. Wake, however, married elsewhere with- 
out the King's licence, for which he was fined heavily. 
Joan was then betrothed by the King to John, son of 
Thomas de Multon, Lord of Egremont, both then very 
young. Edward promised her £1,000 portion, and she 
was to have a jointure of 400 marcs per annum. The 
£1,000 was paid as a fine by Wake to Multon, llth 
Edward II. Joan probably aied early, for she is not 
again mentioned, and Multon married another lady, 
14th Edward II. 

Hugh de Audley, whom Margaret next married, was 
son of Hugh, a cadet of the Barons Audley, of Heleigh 
Castle. She was then styled widow of Piers Gaveston, 
and having become a coheiress, she had by partition, 
llth Edward II, the castle and tower of Newport, the 
manors of Stowe, Rempney, Dyneley, and Maghay, 
the hamlet of Frenebothe (Ebbw), and the commote 



THE EARLS OF GLOUCESTER AND HERTFORD. 161 

of Wentloog. Thornbury aJso came to her, and Ton- 
bridge Castle, and much English property. Thus the 
Monmouthshire portion of the lordship was cut oft 
from the Glamorgan part. 15th Edward II, Audley 
was in arms for Thomas of Lancaster, and was taken 
at Boroughbridge, but pardoned owing to his wifes 
interest. 

20th Edward II. Maria, widow of William de 
Brewose held in dower one-third of the manor of Buck- 
ingham and of the hamlet of Burton (?), parcel of it, of 
the heritage of John de Brewose, all which, together 
with two parts of the said manor and hamlet are held 
of Hugh de Audley and Margaret his wife, of the heri- 
tage, etc, and John is of full age. This was no doubt 
a part of the old Giffard estate, inherited by the de 
Clares. 

7th Edward III. Audley was fighting against Wil- 
liam la Zouch of Mortimer. He served in Scotland, and, 
23rd April 1337, was created Earl of Gloucester by 
patent to him and his heirs. He was allowed a grant 
out of the issues of the earldom instead of the usual 
third penny. As Earl of Gloucester he was much em- 
ployed by Edward III in war, and held a command at 
Vironfosse. 14th Edward III, he was in the sea fight 
at Sluys. 16th Edward III, he went into Brittany 
with a retinue of 100 men-at-arms, a banneret, 20 
knights, 78 esquires, and 100 mounted archers; a 
princely retinue. 17th Edward III, he was in Scot- 
land. 

Audley died 1347, leaving by Margaret one daughter, 
Margaret, aged thirty years. She married RaJph, 
Lord Stafford, and carried to that family Thornbury 
and large estates in Monmouthshire and elsewhere, 
which descended to the Dukes of Buckingham of the 
name of Stafford. 

Notwithstanding the terms of the patent, the earl- 
dom was dropped on Audley^s death, nor was it again 
revived in his descendants. 

Elizabeth de Clare, the third sister, was much the 

M 



162 THE LAND OF MORGAN: 

greatest lady of the three. To her was adjudged the 
Honour of Clare, with lands in Dorset and Monmouth. 
She married, 1, John de Burgh, Earl of Ulster, who 
died 1313; and by him was mother of John de Burgh, 
born at Cardiff, on the morrow after Easter-day 1313, 
and baptised, 14 days later, by the Bishop of Llandaff, in 
the presence of the King. He died young. The 
Countess also had William, Earl of Ulster, whose 
daughter and heir, Elizabeth, living 1355, married 
Lionel, 3rd son of Edward III, in whose person were 
revived his wife's honours, he being created Earl of 
Ulster and Duke of Clare or Clarence. Their daughter 
Philippa married Edmund, Earl of March, and through 
her the House of York derived its claim to the 
throne. 

Elizabeth married secondly, at Bristol, 3rd February 
1315, Theobald de Verdon, otherwise Butler, as his 
second wife. The marriage seems to have been clan- 
destine, and the lady by no means coy. De Verdon 
was charged before Parliament with having on the 
Wednesday after the 2nd February 1315, 18th Ed- 
ward II, forcibly abducted Elizabeth, widow of John 
de Burgh, and the King's niece, from the castle of 
Bristol, where she was lodged in ward to the King, 
having been summoned thither from Ireland. His de- 
fence was that he never entered the castle, but that 
Elizabeth came forth a league from it to meet him, 
when they were married. He gave bail to meet the 
charge. De Verdon was of Newbold-Verdon and a 
baron, and had probably made the lady*s acquaintance 
in Ireland, where he was justiciary. He did not long 
survive, dying 27th July 1316. He was buried at 
Crokesden, co. Stafford, leaving Elizabeth pregnant 
with a daughter, Isabel, born on St. Benedict's day fol- 
lowing her father's death, and co-heir with her two 
half-sisters of the Verdon estates. She married 
Henry, Lord Ferrers of Groby, who did homage for her 
lands 5th Edward III, and cned 15th September, 17th 
Edward III, by whom she had William, Lord Ferrers. 



THE EABLS OF GLOUCESTKR AND HERTFORD. 163 

It appears that in her grants, Elizabeth the elder did 
not use the name of Verdon, but styled herself Eliza- 
beth de Burgh, Lady of Clare. 

On the death of Theobald de Verdon, Elizabeth 
married a third husband, Sir Roger d'Amory, baron of 
Amory in Ireland, to whom about that time, lOth 
Edward II, Edward granted Sandal in Yorkshire, and 
manors in Oxford and Surrey, and soon afterwards, 
in 1319, Nicholas de Verdon prayed to be admitted 
to the lands of his late brother Theobald. In d'Amory 
Elizabeth gained a husband who was able to protect 
her through most of the troubles of the latter part 
of the reign of Edward II. He had summons to 
Parliament in the llth, 12th, 13th, and 14th, of Ed- 
ward II. 

14th and 15th Edward II, he was Governor of the 
castles of Ewias-Lacy, Gloucester, and Bristol, and 
warden of Dene Forest. He also had Knaresborough 
Castle. He was, on the whole, opposed to the Earl 
of Lancaster, and acted with Badlesmere and Pem- 
broke, binding himself in 1317 by a bond for £10,000 
to do his best to lead the King to be governed by 
those Lords. In 1320, however, he joined thegeneral 
body of the discontented, probably from dislike to the 
Despensers, and 8th December, 15th Edwardll, 1321, 
a writ was issued for his arrest, which preceded his 
death but a few months, he dying at Tutbury 1322, 
when his body was given up to his widow, who buried 
him at Ware Priory. 

Edward at first seized his lands for rebellion, but 
speedily relented, and the Close Roll, 2nd November 
1322, directs that Elizabeth de Burgo is to have her 
lands in divers counties. Soon afterwards, however, 
7th January 1323, it is declared that, whereas Eliza- 
beth de Burgo, the widow of Roger d'Amory, knight, 
the King's niece, has receded from his presence without 
licence, her lands are to be seized. 

By Roger d'Amory Elizabeth had one daughter, 
Isabel, who married John, Lord Bardolf, aged 17, 



164 THE LAND OF MORGAN: 

3rd Edward III, who made proof of age and had livery 
of his lands, 9th Edward III. The marriage took 
place, lOth Edward III. Bardolf was an active soldier 
and saw much service. He died 3rd August 1371. 
Besides two daughters, Isabel and Agnes, mentioned 
in their grandmother's will, they had WiUiam, father 
of Thomas, Lord Bardolf, who was returned, 1 H. IV, as 
cousin and heir of Sir Roger d'Amory. He also 
inherited lands from Elizabeth de Clare. 

Elizabeth de Clare was the foundress of Clare Hall, 
Cambridge. She died 4th November 1360, leaving a 
will, dated 25th September 1355, of great length, and 
disposing of large personal property. It has been 
printed by Nichols in his Royal Wills. She therein 
styles herself, as before, Elizabeth de Burgh, Dame of 
Clare, and directs her body to be buried with the Nuns 
Minorites in Aldgate. She founded Masses for the 
weal of de Burgh, Verdon, and d J Amory, "Mes seig- 
nours" ; and left legacies, among a host of persons, to 
Nichol. d'Amory her executor, and to John de Clare. 
" A ma sale apelle" Clare Hall she left £40 and some 
plate, the endowment being already completed. To 
the two Orders of Brothers at Cardiif she left £6, and 
she mentions her heritage in Clare, Dorset, and Mon- 
mouth. Her seals are well known to those curious in 
such matters, and have often been engraved. One, 
given in Montague's Guide to the Study of Hercddry, 
has a central roundel charged on an escutcheon with 3 
cinquefoils for Bardolph, and round it, 8 roundels 
charged, 1 and 5 with a plain cross for de Burgh ; 2 
and 6, a qastle for Castile ; 3, barry undy a bendlet 
for d'Amory ; 8, a lion rampart for Leon ; and 7, three 
chevrons for Clare. Another seal has in the centre 
d'Amory, and on roundels placed about it, England, 
Clare, de Burgh, with a file of 3 points, and a fret 
for Verdon, while four intervening roundels carry 
Castile and Leon for her grandmother "* Eleanor . of 
Castile. 

And thus came to an end the great house of de 
Clare, and was closed the second great chapter in the 



THE EARLS OF GLOUCESTER AND HERTFORD. 165 

History of the Land of Morgan; the first being its 
condition under its native rulers, brought to an end 
by the conquest by Fitz-Hamon. Descending from 
Alianor de Clare, the elder co-heir, the Despensers con- 
tinued the female line in Glamorgan through various 
vicissitudes, transmitting it finally to the Beauchamps, 
whence it merged in the Nevilles, whose heiress mar- 
rying Bichard Plantagenet gave occasion to his becom- 
ing Duke of Gloucester; on whose death as Bichard III 
at Bosworth, the lordship escheated to the Crown, 
and the independent Marchership came practicaUy to 
an end. 

During a part of the reign of John, and the whole 
of those most eventfiil periods in Welsh history, the 
reigns of Henry III and Edward I,.and for much of 
that of Edward II, the de Clares were Lords of Gla- 
morgan, and upon Glamorgan they mainly relied for 
their immense political power. Their wealth, indeed, 
they drew from their English estates, and especially 
from those comprising the Honours of Clare and of 
Gloucester; but it was the possession of the land of 
Morgan that enabled them to^take a position often 
opposed to and always independent of their sovereign. 
The position, no doubt, had its sources of weakness as 
well as of strength ; the sons of Morgan, brave in arms 
and unbridled in their ,zeal for liberty, were always 
ready to take advantage of a change of masters, of a 
minority, or of any weakness of purpose in the reign- 
ing Earl; but at other times, when the Lord was firm 
and moderately just, they were not indocile subjects, 
and followed him and served him faithfully in war. In 
another respect the history of Glamorgan, under the 
house of Clare, bears upon a very interesting section 
of the history of England. Under the early Norman 
sovereigns, the Lords of the Welsh Marches acquired 
powers utterly inconsistent with the good government 
of the whole kingdom ; powers such as the great feu- 
datories on the continent so long exercised to the 
serious detriment of the kingdoms of France and Ger- 
many. The Earls of Gloucester and Hereford, the 



166 THE LAND OF MORGAN. 

Lords de Braose, of Mortimer, Warren, and the Earls 
of Chester, under a weak and imprudent Prince, such 
as Henry III, threw the whole kingdom into disorder, 
and gave a refiige to those barons whose estates lay 
more at the mercy of the Crown. These powers the 
great Edward set himself to work to resume. His 
conquestswere not merely nor mainly over the Welsh ; 
but in reducing the Welsh to submission, he destroyed 
the main source of the power of the marcher Lords; 
and lonff before the close of his reign, he had so con- 
solidated the Principality with England, that even 
the weakness and folly of his son were unable altogether 
to break it up. 



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